436 new cases of Covid confirmed by Dept of Health

A further 436 newly confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been reported in the State.

The Department of Health said there were 39 cases in ICU and 101 in hospital.

Daily case numbers may change due to future data review, validation and update, the Department stressed.

Eight people have died as a result of Covid-19 in the last 12 days, the HSE has confirmed.

Vaccine rollout: As clotting fears recede, hesitancy falls

---

Varadkar says vaccine target for majority of adults likely to be delayed

---

‘Bookings are solid’: Hotels, bars and restaurants get set for reopening

---

Ireland’s not Ireland without its social life. Why don’t we copy Denmark and get it back?

---

As a result of the recent cyberattack on the HSE’s systems, there had been no new reports of Covid-19 deaths since Friday, May 14th, when the State’s total death toll stood at 4,941.

Speaking at a weekly briefing on Thursday, the HSE's chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry said there had been eight deaths from Covid-19 in the 12 days from the data breach to Wednesday.

The latest figures will bring the number of reported deaths in May as a result of Covid-19 to 43.

Dr Henry said the number of deaths from the disease had “collapsed” as a result of the Covid-19 vaccination programme being targeted at elderly people first, who are much more at risk of dying as a result of Covid-19.

There were 2,234 new Covid-19 cases in the second week in January in the over-75s. As a result of the vaccination programme, there have been just 65 cases per week in that age group in the last fortnight.

“Hospitalisations, deaths and outbreaks – anything associated with the vaccinated populations have collapsed,” Dr Henry said.

He said there is a “steady level” of disease happening at present, but it is being concentrated in the under-45s.

“The unvaccinated groups are younger people. It [the disease] still has the capacity to do harm, but less so than before.”

The Department of Health has revised its Covid-19 figures since the data breach. In the 12 days after the cyberattack on the HSE there were 5,133 new cases, an average of 428 a day.

This is 140 more cases than the 4,993 cases that were originally reported for the period.

Northern Ireland’s Department of Health, meanwhile, reported 84 new cases of Covid-19 and no further fatalities on Thursday.

There have been no deaths with Covid-19 in the last seven days, compared to three the week before.

A total of 27 people are receiving hospital treatment for Covid-19 in the North, with two in intensive care.