A child in the Republic of Ireland is fighting for their life after contracting the coronavirus.
The youngster, aged between five and 14, was admitted to an ICU facility in the 24 hours prior to midnight on Tuesday.
They have become the second COVID-19 patient in this age bracket to be treated in a critical care unit.
This is according to the latest report released by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre.
The report does not state the exact age, gender or the location of the patient.
The report also does not state whether the person had an underlying condition or not.
No patient in Ireland in this age profile as died from the virus to date.
A 17-year-old and a 23-year-old are the ages of the country's youngest victims.
Health officials announced yesterday that there was a further 29 deaths in Ireland related to COVID-19 with 137 more cases also.
That brings the total number of deaths in the country to 1,403, with 22,385 cases also confirmed.
The latest update comes as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar today said that the coronavirus could have been in the country last year.
Leo Varadkar was speaking in the Dail when he referenced reports suggesting that France may have had its first case before the New Year.
The Fine Gael leader said: "We are still learning about this virus.
"It's noteworthy that initial reports suggest that from retrospective testing, that the virus was circulating in France as far back as December last year.
"That's before the virus even had a name or a test for it.
"In some ways, this is not surprising as France is well connected to China with dozens of flights every day, and Ireland is well connected to France.
"Indeed, it is very possible that this virus was already in Ireland last year, or January this year.
"And we can not assume that it came here from Italy in late February, just because the first confirmed case did so.
"Further research and retrospective testing will give us a better idea and time will tell."
Coronavirus symptoms:
- a cough - this can be any kind of cough, not just dry
- shortness of breath
- breathing difficulties
- fever or chills
Other symptoms are fatigue, headaches, sore throat, aches and pains.
