'Better days are in sight'- Dr Glynn

In the latest update there are 15 new cases confirmed in Cavan, where the 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population is currently 263.9. There have been 201 new confirmed infections in the past 14 days.

“Better days are in sight,” is the message from Dr. Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health. But he still warns that people need to continue to respond to public health advice and “act in solidarity” with one another to ensure infection figures continue to fall.

“We have a dedicated and committed health workforce and we are learning more about this disease all the time. We now have three very safe and effective vaccines being rolled out and supply should increase very substantially over the coming weeks,” stated Dr Glynn this evening.

He also said acknowledged that the past year has been “very difficult for people”, and noted that incidence remains “very high” and “we cannot drop our guard.

His comments come as Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 28 additional deaths related to COVID-19.

All but one of these deaths occurred in February, with the median age of those who died standing at 79 years. The young person among those who died was 32 years old.

There has now been a total of 4,109 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight, Thursday, February 18, the HPSC has also been notified of 763 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

There is now a total of 213,400 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.

The latest update included 370 are men and 388 women, 72% of which are under 45 years of age.

They include 251 in Dublin, 84 in Galway, 57 in Kildare, 47 in Limerick, 42 in Waterford and the remaining 282 cases are spread across all other counties.

There were 15 new cases confirmed in Cavan, where the 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population is currently 263.9. There have been 201 new confirmed infections in the past 14 days.

Neighbouring Monaghan meanwhile continues to have the highest 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population in the country at 402.4 (247 cases).

The national 14-day incidence average is 246.9.

As of 8am today, 754 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised as a result of symptoms, of which 151 are in ICU. There have been 46 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

According to the HPSC, as of February 16, 293,752 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland.

A total of 187,893 people have received their first dose, and 105,859 people have received their second dose.