A further 38 deaths and 1,068 more cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Republic of Ireland this evening.
Tonight's cases update is made up of 657 new cases confirmed in Irish labs and 411 older Irish Covid-19 cases confirmed in a laboratory in Germany, as of 1pm on Wednesday, April 15.
There have now been 444 deaths due to coronavirus in Ireland to date.
The total number of cases in the Republic is now 12,547.
Health officials tonight confirmed a 23-year-old has died of the disease, the youngest reported death in Ireland so far.
29 of the new deaths announced this evening were in the east, six in the west and three in the south.
The victims included 22 men and 16 women.
The median age of today's reported deaths is 84.
28 of the victims had underlying health conditions.
Today’s data from the HPSC, as of midnight, Monday April 13 (11,261 cases), shows:
55% are female and 45% are male, with 413 clusters involving 2,244 cases
The median age of confirmed cases is 48 years
1,968 cases (18%) have been hospitalised
Of those hospitalised, 280 cases have been admitted to ICU
2,872 cases are associated with healthcare workers
Dublin has the highest number of cases at 5,850 (52% of all cases) followed by Cork with 829 cases (7%)
Of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 52%, close contact accounts for 42%, travel abroad accounts for 6%
Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said: “We are continuing to monitor the course of this disease across a range of indicators – not only in the number of confirmed cases and deaths reported but also through hospital and ICU admissions, clusters and patterns of transmission.
“While a number of these parameters are going in a positive direction, it is clear that we need to keep going in our efforts, on an individual level, to limit the spread of this virus.”
Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said: “The World Health Organisation yesterday published its COVID-19 strategy update.
“This strategy re-emphasises the need for comprehensive public health measures to slow the spread of the virus, with additional capacity to respond rapidly to sporadic cases and clusters when they occur.”
Dr Siobhan Ni Bhriain, Consultant Psychiatrist and HSE Integrated Care Lead, said; “There are still concerning reports that attendance to emergency departments is unusually low. This concerns us.
"Everyone should continue to seek medical intervention if concerned about their health. Do not ignore symptoms of illness because of fear of contracting COVID-19 or fear of imposition on healthcare staff. The health service is there for everyone and all medical concerns."
