No new Covid-19 deaths reported today

There have been no new deaths reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre today.

The total number of COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland is 1,741.

As of midnight on Saturday, the HPSC has been notified of 18 confirmed cases of Covid-19. There is now a total of 25,527 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

The HSE is working to identify any contacts the patients may have had to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread.

Meanwhile, between 1,100 and 1,200 more people than expected died in Ireland during the height of the first wave of Covid-19 coronavirus in Ireland (March 11 to June 16), the Health Information and Quality Authority has revealed.

“Based on an analysis of the death notices reported on RIP.ie since 2010, there is clear evidence of excess deaths occurring since the first reported death due to COVID-19 in Ireland,” sa Dr Conor Teljeur, HIQA’s Chief Scientist.

“There were about 1,100 to 1,200 more deaths than we would expect based on historical patterns, a 13% increase between 11 March to 16 June.

“However, the number of excess deaths is substantially less than the reported 1,709 Covid-19-related deaths over the same period.”

HIQA found that the officially-reported Covid-19 deaths likely overestimates the true burden of excess deaths caused by the virus. 

This could be due to the inclusion within official figures of people who were infected with SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus) at the time of death whose cause of death may have been predominantly due to other factors.

“Excess deaths peaked by 33% over a six-week period from 25 March 2020 to 5 May 2020,” Dr. Teljeur continued.

“During this period, there was an increase of 1,200 deaths from expected figures, with 1,332 Covid-19-related deaths officially reported.

“In the last four weeks of the analysis, we have seen a reversal of that trend with fewer deaths than expected.

"However, it is also possible that the changes to healthcare delivery during the Covid-19 epidemic, such as the suspension of elective activity in public acute hospitals, may have a lasting impact on health outcomes, the effect of which may take years to be seen.”