36 of these deaths occurred in February, 18 of these in occurred in January, and the date of 1 death remains under investigation.
827 new cases of COVID-19 have also been confirmed, with 297 in Dublin, and 76 in Cork.
Wexford has the fourth highest case numbers in the country with 46, with 20 in Waterford, 19 in Carlow, 14 in Tipperary, while Kilkenny have confirmed 7 new cases.
Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said: “There are a few old habits that collectively we have to break in order to suppress COVID-19 together. We know that people who feel unwell typically avoid calling their GP over the weekend, and wait to see if they improve.
"You should no longer do that – you must phone your GP at the first sign of anything like COVID-19 symptoms. Do not adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach.”
“Similarly, do not leave your house or go to work if you have any cold or flu like symptoms at all. Breaking these habits will limit COVID-19’s opportunity to spread from person to person.”
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Meanwhile the first 21,600 doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine have arrived in the Republic.
The doses were delivered into the national cold chain store in Dublin from Belgium earlier on Saturday afternoon.
The Health Minister has said the first doses will be distributed to healthcare workers from Monday.
Stephen Donnelly described the delivery as a “big day” for the country, posting video footage of the vaccine’s arrival on social media.
🚨 Big day. The @HSELive has just sent me this video of the first 21600 doses of AstraZeneca arriving this afternoon from Belgium to the national cold chain store in Dublin. First doses to be given to healthcare workers on Monday. 👏 well done to all pic.twitter.com/b6KsgljCFG
— Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) February 6, 2021
The vaccine has been described as a “gamechanger” for the State’s rollout, as it does not require the specialist ultra-cold storage used for mRNA vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna.
While it is easier to distribute, the Taoiseach has confirmed that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will continue to be administered to those aged over 70 in Ireland, due to limited data on the efficacy of the AstraZeneca jab in older people.
The decision led to a reworking of the State’s vaccine rollout plan, with some priority groups set to be brought forward for an earlier vaccination with the AstraZeneca jab.
Revised plans
Those aged 70 are set to begin receiving the Pfizer and Moderna jabs from GPs from February 15th, after the HSE and Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) agreed the revised plans.
The rollout will begin with those aged over 85, with The Irish Times reporting that doctors hope to complete the vaccination of those aged 85 or older by March 8th, with second doses administered exactly a month after the first shot.
Most patients over the age of 70 will receive the Covid-19 vaccine from their own family doctor practice.
However, doctor surgeries in rural areas with fewer than 200 patients in the age group will "buddy up" to administer doses.
A number of large-scale vaccination clinics are to be established in Dublin, Cork and Galway under the new plans, with the first to be set up at Dublin City University (DCU) where patients attached to 121 practices across the capital will receive the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
