Very sad news.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 16 additional deaths related to Covid-19. Of the deaths reported today, 14 occurred in November, one in October and one remains under investigation. The HPSC has been notified of 270 confirmed cases of Covid-19. 82 of the cases are in Dublin, 21 in Donegal, 18 in Roscommon, 17 in Limerick, 17 in Tipperary and the remaining 115 cases are spread across 20 other counties.

As of 2pm on Tuesday, 282 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 40 are in Intensive Care Units.

There have been 21 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said: “The significant improvement in the profile of the disease is encouraging: the 14-day incidence of 152 cases per 100,000 is down by 51% compared to the previous two weeks. “To maintain this positive trajectory, we need to remain vigilant to the highly infectious nature of this virus, which can easily spread from person to person through close contact and by social mixing. Our individual everyday choices to stay at home and keep our contacts to a minimum are vital to driving down the spread of Covid-19.”