"We have a long way to go."

Dr Tony Holohan has issued a warning following the death of a teenager due to Covid-19. Speaking yesterday after the country's highest daily deaths reported at 101, the Chief Medical Officer urged the public to be cautious in the midst of the "surge of infection" experienced following the Christmas period. The youngest death reported yesterday was a person of 19 years old. “This is the highest number of deaths we have reported on any single day of the Covid-19 pandemic so far," he said. "The high mortality we are experiencing as a country at the moment is related to the surge of infection we saw several weeks ago, and the hospitalisations and admissions to ICU that followed as a direct result. “Although we have seen great improvement in the level of infection being reported, we have a long way to go and incidence needs to decline much further." The Department of Health has confirmed that 83 of yesterday's reported deaths occurred in January with 18 happening this month. The age range of deaths reported yesterday was 19 years old to 103 years old. The median age was 85. Of the new cases recorded yesterday, 56% of people were under the age of 45, with the median age being 41 years old. Dr Holohan said that "positive actions" within the community will make a difference in stopping the spread of the virus. "The best way to honour those who have died from Covid-19, and those who loved them or provided care for them, is to follow the public health advice," he said. "Stay at home unless absolutely necessary, and encourage your friends, family and colleagues to do the same. “What we can have control over today is the outlook of this disease in the weeks to come. Your positive actions matter, and they add up at a collective level. Please keep it up.”