Total fatalities with Covid-19 among healthcare workers reaches 20

Another healthcare worker has died with Covid-19, the 20th such fatality since the start of the pandemic.

The death of the healthcare worker is recorded in the latest update on Covid-19 deaths by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, which says 0.3 per cent of the 5,952 deaths in the pandemic have occurred in this group.

No further details about the person is contained in the HPSC report.

The last healthcare worker death was reported in November 2020.

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Eleven further Covid-19 deaths are reported in the latest HPSC update, with an average age of 77 years.

Of all deaths in the pandemic, 84.5 per cent had underlying conditions, according to the report. Four out of every 10 deaths were in people aged 85 years and over; eight death were in people aged under 25.

Some 2,034 deaths occurred in nursing homes and other residential institutions and 3,112 in hospitals.

A total of 2,245 deaths were linked to outbreaks in nursing homes and 875 to outbreaks in hospitals.

There were 157 Covid-19 deaths in December, though this figure may increase due to later reporting. The figure compares to 230 in November and 217 in October.