Public health bosses have this evening reported another 988 cases of Covid-19 in Ireland, as well as 26 new deaths.
24 of these deaths occurred in February, 1 in January and 1 in October.
The latest figures, announced by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), bring to the total number of cases recorded in Ireland to 214,378 since the pandemic began last spring, while 4,135 people have died in total.
Of the cases notified today:
- 487 are men / 499 are women
- 70% are under 45 years of age
- The median age is 32 years old
As of 8am today, 719 patients are hospitalised with Covid, of which 149 are in ICU. 36 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
Of today's cases, 78 are in Dublin, 68 in Galway, 61 in Kildare, 47 in Limerick, 45 in Louth and the remaining 389 cases are spread across all other counties.
Earlier today, Taoiseach Michael Martin said that the hospitality sector will not be open until mid-summer.
Speaking on RTÉ's Raidió na Gaeltachta, the Fianna Fàil leader said that Covid numbers are still too high and that officials are particularly concerned about the emergence of new variants.
"While I am happy that we are making progress with the vaccination programme. Any easing of the restrictions has to be slow and cautious because of the threat from new variants of the disease. These variants are our biggest concern for managing the disease in the immediate future," he said.
Martin added: "What the public health authorities are saying is that we stick with this until the end of April, then we reflect on the situation and make decisions about the months ahead," he said. .
