29 further deaths in relation to Covid-19, 137 new cases

This brings Ireland's death toll to 1,403.

29 more people in Ireland have died in connection with Covid-19, with a further 137 new cases confirmed. Ireland's death toll is now 1,403, while a total of 22,385 people have been diagnosed with the disease. This is the first time since 22 March that the daily reported new cases has been below 200. It was announced at Thursday night's briefing that 115 of the 137 new cases are related to people in residential care homes. 6,473 healthcare workers have been confirmed to have Covid-19, representing 28.7% of Ireland's total cases. Dublin has the highest number of cases at 10,840 (49% of all cases) followed by Kildare with 1,302 cases (6%) and then Cork with 1,197 cases (5%). The most recent figures suggest that the median age of confirmed cases is 49 years. As well as that, Simon Harris told the Dáil that the calculated reproductive rate of Covid-19 in Ireland is now somewhere between 0.3 and 0.8, and the overall rate is considered stable at 0.5. Speaking about this, Doctor Tony Holohan said: "The reproduction number is between 0.5 -0.6. We have achieved our goal of suppressing the spread of the disease, it was not easy for anyone but there is no question that our collective effort has saved lives. "Now we look to the pattern of COVID-19 going forward, as we attempt to ease restrictions. These weeks are just as important as the first weeks of our response. Our behaviours are crucial in maintaining our progress and keeping the reproduction number below 1." This comes on the same day that Leo Varadkar announced that Covid-19 may well have been in Ireland since last year.