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Press release

Statement from the National Public Health Emergency Team - Tuesday 5 May


The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been informed that a total of 23 people with COVID-19 have died.

There have now been a total 1,339* COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland (*validation of data at the HPSC has resulted in the denotification of 3 deaths. The figure of 1,339 deaths reflects this. )

As of 11am Tuesday 5 May, the HPSC has been notified of 211 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 21,983 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.

The HSE is working to identify any contacts the patients may have had to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread.

The National Public Health Emergency Team met today (Tuesday 5 May) to continue its ongoing review of Ireland’s response to COVID-19.

Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said:

"As Ireland works to ease restrictions, it is crucial that we preserve the progress our country has made in recent weeks.

“This is a highly infectious disease. It thrives in crowds. It has the potential to rapidly spread to levels that our health service will find difficult to respond to.

“While we plan how to safely emerge from recent restrictions, none of us should forget that the virus is still in our community. Those who get infected have the same risk of serious illness as they did at the beginning of this pandemic.”

Update on testing

As of midnight Monday 4 May, 214,761 tests have been carried out.

Over the past week, 61,707 tests were carried out and of these 2,280 were positive, giving a positivity rate of 3.7%.

Dr. Cillian De Gascun, Chair of the NPHET Expert Advisory Group, said:

"The positivity rate reducing is a good sign. Combined with the high level of testing we are now undertaking, this gives us confidence that we are on a path towards suppression of the disease.”

Cases as on Sunday, 3 May

The data from the HPSC, as of midnight, Sunday 3 May (21,659 cases), reveals:

  • 58% are female and 42% are male
  • the median age of confirmed cases is 49 years
  • 2,879 cases (13%) have been hospitalised
  • of those hospitalised, 369 cases have been admitted to ICU
  • 6,293 cases are associated with healthcare workers
  • Dublin has the highest number of cases at 10,670 (49% of all cases) followed by Kildare with 1,280 cases (6%) and then Cork with 1,177 cases (5%)
  • of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 62%, close contact accounts for 35%, travel abroad accounts for 3%

ENDS

Hospital statistics

Total number of cases
21,659
Total number hospitalised
2,879
Total number admitted to ICU
369
Total number of deaths
1,099
Total number of healthcare workers
6,293
Number clusters notified
706
Cases associated with clusters
7,179
Median age
49
  • All statistics measured at midnight on Sunday 3 May.

Gender of patients

Gender
Number
% of Total
Female
12446
57.5
Male
9151
42.3
Unknown
62
0.3
Total
21659
  • All statistics measured at midnight on Sunday 3 May.

Age range affected

Age Group
Number
% of Total
<1
39
0.2
1 - 4
72
0.3
5 - 14
230
1.1
15 - 24
1475
6.8
25 - 34
3496
16.1
35 - 44
3714
17.1
45 - 54
3956
18.3
55 - 64
2843
13.1
65+
5810
26.8
Unknown
24
0.1
  • All statistics measured at midnight on Sunday 3 May.

How COVID-19 is spreading

Community transmission
62%
Close contact with confirmed case
35%
Travel Abroad
3%
  • All statistics measured at midnight on Sunday 3 May.

Note:

In the event that a person tests positive for COVID-19 and hasn't been abroad or had contact with another confirmed case in Ireland, that's known as community transmission.

In the event that a person who tests positive for COVID-19 can be linked to another confirmed case in Ireland, that's known as local transmission.

Hospitalised cases by age group

Age range
Number of cases
Percentage of total
<5
18
0.6
5 - 14
13
0.5
15 - 24
59
2
25 - 34
179
6.2
35 - 44
240
8.3
45 - 54
389
13.5
55 - 64
424
14.7
65+
1555
54
Unknown
2
0.1
  • All statistics measured at midnight on Sunday 3 May.

Cases by county

Carlow
127
0.6%
Cavan
694
3.2%
Clare
249
1.1%
Cork
1177
5.4%
Donegal
466
2.2%
Dublin
10670
49.3%
Galway
369
1.7%
Kerry
301
1.4%
Kildare
1280
5.9%
Kilkenny
258
1.2%
Laois
238
1.1%
Leitrim
70
0.3%
Limerick
585
2.7%
Longford
235
1.1%
Louth
685
3.2%
Mayo
510
2.4%
Meath
717
3.3%
Monaghan
429
2%
Offaly
317
1.5%
Roscommon
181
0.8%
Sligo
120
0.6%
Tipperary
486
2.2%
Waterford
139
0.6%
Westmeath
547
2.5%
Wexford
184
0.8%
Wicklow
625
2.9%
  • All statistics measured at midnight on Sunday 3 May.

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