Coronavirus: Six deaths and 675 further cases reported in Republic

A further six deaths and 675 confirmed cases of Covid-19 were reported by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) on Wednesday.

The total number of people who have died with the disease in the State is now 1,896, while there have been 59,434 confirmed cases.

In five out of the past six days fewer than 1,000 new cases have been recorded. This follows an eight-day period where new daily cases were consistently above 1,000.

The median age of the cases reported on Wednesday was 35 while 65 per cent were under 45, 309 were men and 364 were women.

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Fifty of the new cases were in Limerick, 199 in Dublin, 104 in Cork, 67 in Meath, 41 in Kildare and the remaining 214 cases were spread across another 20 counties.

There has been a slight increase in the number of people being treated for Covid-19 in intensive care units.

The latest figures show there are 41 patients in ICU, up from 38 on Tuesday afternoon. However, the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in hospitals is 327, down from 341 yesterday.

On Tuesday, the five deaths and 720 cases were confirmed.

As of Wednesday morning, the national 14-day incidence rate was 308 cases per 100,000 of population, and the five-day moving average was 862 cases per day.

The chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan on Tuesday warned it was too early to say whether Ireland has turned a corner in its management of Covid-19, despite falling daily case numbers and other positive indicators.

Dr Holohan said he was “definitely not” at a stage where he could confidently say a corner had been turned, pointing out that numbers had stabilised in Dublin after the introduction of Level 3 measures, before then taking off again.