Covid-19: 68% of deaths last week among people with underlying conditions

Sixty-eight per cent of deaths related to Covid-19 last week were among those with an underlying condition, according to the latest official weekly statistics.

The Central Statistics Office data on coronavirus deaths and cases shows there were 31 deaths from the disease in the week ending December 10th, of which 21 were people with an underlying condition.

Most deaths in the pandemic have been in older age groups, and in the same week, 65 per cent of deaths were among those aged 65 or older.

Dublin was the only county to record more than five deaths during the week.

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The number of weekly cases of coronavirus totalled 28,112. Dublin had the highest number of new cases at 9,608, followed by Cork at 3,329.

Cases in Dublin increased by 3 per cent that week, while cases in Roscommon decreased by 43 per cent.

More than a third of cases were among 25-44 year olds.

Cases among the age group of 14 or younger decreased by 14 per cent compared with the previous week, and cases in the 65-79 age category decreased by 24 per cent.

Cases also decreased among those employed in the health and social work sector, by 11 per cent, while cases in the education sector increased by 10 per cent.

The statistics showed a levelling off of hospitalisations, down to 238 from 265 the week previous. The number of people admitted to intensive care also decreased from 12 to seven.

People aged over 65 accounted for 50 per cent of all hospitalisations.