ANOTHER 26 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Donegal this evening.
The figure is the third highest in the country today after Dublin (184) and Limerick (31).
Nationally, 437 cases were reported by health officials, with no further Covid-19 related deaths.
There have now been a total of 4,422 deaths and 223,651 cases since the outbreak.
Of the cases notified today: 216 are men and 218 are women, 71 per cent are under 45 years of age and the median age is 34 years old.
As of 8am today, 418 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 103 are in ICU. There have been 20 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
As of last Friday (5 March), there have been 513,322 doses of Covid-19 vaccine administered in Ireland: 363,601 people have received their first dose; 149,721 people have received their second dose.
Dr. Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said: “Our Amárach research data shows compliance with the key public health measures remain very high; washing hands regularly (93%), using hand sanitiser (95%), social distancing while in a queue (93%).
“While levels of anxiety (36%) and boredom (38%) are understandably high, it is encouraging to see that a sense of hope continues to rise across the population with 48% of people reporting that they feel the worst of the pandemic is behind us.
“This hope is justified in the context of the continued improvement in the key indicators of the disease and with the ongoing rollout of the vaccination programme over the coming weeks.
“However, it is vital that this hope does not give way to complacency; across Europe countries are seeing a deteriorating picture and our own disease incidence remains high – we must do all we can to continue to suppress this virus and to ensure that as many people as possible get to benefit from vaccination over the coming months. Keep your guard up and hold firm.”