This evening, the Department of Health confirmed 29 additional deaths relating to Covid-19.
17 of today's reported deaths occurred this month while 12 happened in January.
Statement from the National Public Health Emergency Team@hpscireland has today been notified of 29 additional deaths related to #COVID19.
17 of these deaths occurred in February, and 12 occurred in January.
— Department of Health (@roinnslainte) February 26, 2021
As of midnight last night, there have been 776confirmed new cases of the virus.
Of today's cases, 67% are under 45 years of age.
The median age is 34 years old.
Most of today's cases were identified in Dublin, where there are 278 new cases.
Elsewhere, there are 69 new cases in Galway, 57 in Meath, 54 in Kildare and 48 in Donegal.
The remaining 272 cases are spread across all other counties.
Meanwhile, there have been 24 additional hospitalisations in the past twenty-four hours.
In total, there are 574 Covid-19 patients in hospitals - 136 of whom are in intensive care.
The 14 Day incident rate is 223 per 100,000 population.
As of Tuesday, February 23rd, 373,280 doses of Covid-19 have been administered in Ireland.
134,439 people are fully vaccinated.
Deputy CMO Pens Open Letter To Parent
Meanwhile, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer has written an open letter to parents, ahead of the phased reopening of schools next week.
“Please avoid congregating at school gates over the coming weeks. Please do not have play dates or organise after school activities which involve household mixing. And please continue to work from home unless essential.”
Ronan Glynn’s letter to parents: https://t.co/phliMzDPmw
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) February 26, 2021
Dr Ronan Glynn appealed to parents and guardians not to congregate at school gates and avoid organising play dates.
He thanked parents and school staff for their efforts in suppressing the virus which he says "underpinned the national response to Covid-19".
