Biggest daily jump in confirmed cases in Westmeath recorded

Westmeath has recorded the biggest single daily jump in confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Figures released last night by the Department of Health show that there were an extra 29 cases confirmed in the county.
That brings the overall number of confirmed cases, by midnight Thursday, in Westmeath to 181, up from 152 on midnight Wednesday. In Roscommon, there were 27 cases.
The significant rise in Westmeath is partly due to the gradual entry into the figures of positive cases from samples sent to a German laboratory.
Nationally, up to 1pm yesterday Easter Saturday, an extra 839 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed.
These comprised and additional 553 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported by Irish laboratories and 286 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported by a laboratory in Germany
With the latest German figures included, there are now a total of 8,928 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.

See full story of the inclusion of extra positives from German labs HERE

Last night, the Department of Health confirmed that another 33 people diagnosed with COVID-19 in Ireland have died. Some thirty of the deaths were located in the east and three n the west of the country.
The people included 14 females and 19 males
There have now been 320 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; “Today’s figure of 553 represents the largest number of new cases reported in a single day since the start of the outbreak.
“This should remind everyone of the importance of hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette and physical distancing. These are the actions to suppress this infection. We need to continue with them.”