Mayo's 14-day Covid incidence rate falls below the national average

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.

As of midnight Monday, the HPSC hs registered 270 new confirmed cases.

Mayo has less than five cases and its 14-day incidence rate of 147.9, the 12th highest in the county, is slightly below the national average of 151.5.

Of the cases notified today:

123 are men and 147 are women

56% are under 45 years of age

the median age is 42 years old

82 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 2 .pm. today, 282 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 40 are in ICU.

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

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, 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."