Over-65s account for 90% of coronavirus deaths recorded in Ireland

Coronavirus clusters have been identified in 140 Irish nursing homes and people aged over 65 have accounted for 90 per cent of the deaths in the State related to the pandemic, a new report states.

A total of 383 Covid-19 clusters, classified as the grouping of more than two cases, have now been identified, according to figures published by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).

Nursing homes account for more than a third of clusters, followed by hospitals with 58 and residential institutions with 54. Fifty were in private homes and 11 were in workplaces.

The analysis of 8,496 confirmed cases reported by midnight on April 10th shows the median age of those affected is 48. The patient was less than a year old in 18 cases.

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In almost a quarter of cases (1,951) people were aged over 65, a cohort viewed as particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus.

Those aged over 65 make up 90 per cent of the Covid-19 related deaths, according to the analysis.

However, despite evidence the virus has a greater impact on the elderly and people with underlying health conditions, a number of younger people have also been admitted into intensive care for treatment.

Intensive care

More than 120 people aged 25 to 34 have been hospitalised with Covid-19, with 10 requiring intensive care and two dying. Three people aged between 15 and 24 were admitted into intensive care units after contracting the coronavirus.

Dublin continues to account for more than half (53 per cent) of the national total with 4,514 confirmed cases. Cork has had 648 confirmed cases, followed by Kildare (360) and Wicklow (263).

Roscommon is the county with the fewest confirmed cases at 31, just ahead of Carlow and Leitrim with 32 each.

From the nearly 8,500 cases analysed by the HPSC, some 2,312 related to healthcare workers with 1,385 of these people working in the east of the country.

In 4 per cent of cases (342) the patients were confirmed to have contracted the virus outside of the country.

A breakdown of the total shows slightly more women (54 per cent) have been confirmed to have contracted the virus than men. There are now 9,655 known cases in the State, and 334 people have died.