Number of Covid deaths among healthcare staff reaches 20

Another healthcare worker has died as a result of Covid-19, bringing the total fatalities in the sector to 20 since the start of the pandemic.

The death was recorded in the weekly update from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, and is the first such fatality since the week of November 10 last year.

The total number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic now stands at 5,952, the latest figures show.

Of that number, 2,765 (46.5%) were women and 3,187 (53.5%) were men.

Of those who have died with the virus, 5,032 had underlying conditions, 504 did not, and 416 were classified as “unknown”.

The vast majority of deaths – 87.4%, or 5,205 – had been admitted to intensive care, while 12.6%, or 747, had not.

Almost 90% of deaths have been people over the age of 65.

There has been a total of 5,952 deaths related to COVID-19 notified in Ireland. This includes 40 deaths newly notified in the past week (since last Wednesday).

— Department of Health (@roinnslainte) January 5, 2022

There have been eight deaths among people under 25.

There were 18 fatalities in people aged 25 to 34, with 47 in the 35-44 age cohort, 144 among 45-54-year-olds and 378 in those aged 55 to 64.

There were 11 deaths recorded in the last week.