THERE was a significant increase in the number of Covid-19 related deaths and new cases reported by public health officials this Wednesday.
47 additional deaths and 631 newly diagnosed cases were confirmed and eight of the new infections were in Kerry.
The county now has the fourth lowest 14-day incidence rate in the country with 65.0 cases per 100,000 population with Kilkenny (54.4), Cork (57.3) and Leitrim (59.3) all faring better.
A total of 14 of the deaths notified today occurred in March, 18 in February and 15 in January.
The median age of those who died was 83 years and the age range was from 60 to 95 years.
There have now been 4,499 fatalities due to the coronavirus in the Republic of Ireland and 224,588 confirmed cases.
Early this morning, 370 Covid-19 infected patients were in hospital with 92 in intensive care There have been 31 people admitted to hospital because of the virus in the past 24 hours.
Of the cases notified today, 317 are male and 308 are female with 74 per cent under 45 years of age. The median age of those affected is 29.
247 of the newly diagnosed cases are in Dublin, 50 in Kildare, 44 in Meath, 41 in Cork and 32 in Limerick with the remaining 217 cases spread across 20 other counties, including the eight in Kerry.
