ALTHOUGH the number of new cases in Kerry was again less than five, there was a very significant spike in the national Covid-19 infection figures reported today by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre.
Two weeks after the St Patrick’s Day celebrations, it was confirmed that a further 18 people have died and, alarmingly, 761 new cases have been notified in the past 24 hours which will give public health officials real cause for concern.
Of the deaths reported today, 11 occurred in this month and seven in February. The median age of those who died was 81 years and the age range was from 59 to 95 years.
There have been 4,705 Covid-19 linked fatalities in the Republic of Ireland with the number of known infections spiraling to 236,600.
Early this morning, 274 patients were in hospital because of the virus with 63 in intensive care. There have been 18 additional hospital admissions linked to the disease in the past 24 hours.
Of the cases notified today, 383 are male and 373 are female with 72 per cent under 45 years of age. The median age of those affected is 33.
372 of the newly diagnosed cases are in Dublin, 55 in Meath, 43 in Cork, 40 in Kildare and 38 in Offaly with the remaining 213 cases spread across 19 other counties.
Kerry still has the lowest 14-day infection incidence rate in the country with 24.4 cases per 100,000 population.
