50 Additional Deaths From Covid-19 In The Republic Of Ireland Today

3,498 new cases have been confirmed

1,182 of the cases are in Dublin, 421 in Cork, 258 in Limerick, 187 in Galway, 164 in Waterford, and the remaining 1,286 cases are spread across all other counties.

As of 2pm today, 1,850 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised of which 184 are in ICU. 

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ronan Glynn says the number of close contacts per case peaked at 6 at the end of December but has now dropped to 2.3.