Hospitalised coronavirus cases in Ireland at lowest point since pandemic began

The number of hospitalised coronavirus patients in Ireland is at its lowest point since the pandemic began.

There were 12 people who contracted Covid-19 in an Irish hospital on Tuesday night.

This figure is down 99% from the peak of 865 recorded in April, and it is the lowest it has been since the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic on March 11.

There are now 22 hospitals in the country which are not treating a single confirmed case of the virus.

An ambulance worker puts on a protective mask (Stock photo) (Getty Images)

The Mater in Dublin had three patients, Connolly, Waterford and Cork were treating two, while Sligo, Cavan and Portiuncula had one confirmed case on site each.

Despite the low number of hospitalised cases, there were still nine people fighting for their lives in intensive care with confirmed coronavirus - seven of these were ventilated cases.

There were a further five people with suspected Covid-19 in an ICU as of 8pm on Tuesday night.

The latest HSE operations report also shows 108 suspected cases were being treated in a hospital at the same time.

Meanwhile, there were 24 new confirmed cases announced on Wednesday - the highest increase in more than a week.

And one more virus-related death was also recorded by the Department of Health.

There is now a total of 25,538 confirmed cases of Covid-19 here, while 1,742 people have sadly died from the virus.