By Kenneth Fox
A further three deaths and an additional 1,012 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the Republic this evening.
There are currently 194 people being treated in hospital with Covid-19 and a further 31 in ICU.
With three more deaths this evening it means the total number Covid-19 related deaths is 1,824.
There is now also a total of 41,714 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.
Of the cases notified today, the Department of Health said: 511 are men while 496 are women, 71 per cent are under 45 years of age while the the median age is 30 years old.
The most cases this evening were in Dublin with 241. Elsewhere there was 112 in Cork, 80 in Cavan, 72 in Meath, 66 in Galway, and the remaining 441 cases are spread across 21 other counties.
Speaking this evening, Dr Tony Holohan, chief medical officer said:
“I am very worried about the numbers we are seeing and how quickly they are deteriorating. All of today’s 1,012 cases were notified to the HPSC over a period of 24 hours up to midnight.
“The 14-day incidence rate has increased from 108 per 100,000 last Sunday to 150 per 100,000 today, which represents a 39 per cent increase.
“All of the important indicators of the disease are deteriorating. For example, there has been a consistent increase in test positivity over the past week. The test positivity rate up to midnight Friday 9th October was 6.2 per cent, which has more than doubled in less than a fortnight.
“Case numbers are growing across all age groups and throughout the country.”
Meanwhile, Dr Ronan Glynn, deputy chief medical officer, said:
"In the past 24 hours, there have been 35 new admissions of laboratory confirmed cases to hospital and 4 new admissions to ICU. There are now 199 people in hospital and 31 in ICU. Every age group, location and household needs to act now, limit your contacts and stop the disease in its tracks.”
