Over 93% of the people who died with Covid-19 had an...

More than 93 percent of people who died of coronavirus in the state had an underlying condition (1,568 people), according to data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Friday.

Chronic heart disease was by far the most common underlying disease among those who died of Covid-19 at 44 percent of the cases. Other underlying diseases were kidney disease, liver disease, neurological disease, respiratory disease, cancer, and diabetes.

The vast majority of the 1,568 people with an underlying disease who died from coronavirus were over 65 years of age (1,450 people). The median age was 83, according to the latest series of the CSO bulletin on deaths and cases. Of the 133 deaths among people aged 25 to 64, 87 percent (116) had underlying illnesses.

The numbers show that more than 10 people have died from Covid-19 in each week of the past eight weeks. The hospitalization rate of people with the virus has plummeted. Of the 3,881 confirmed cases in the last week of October, 126 were hospitalized and fewer than five were admitted to the intensive care unit. This is comparable to the 688 people with Covid-19 who were hospitalized in the week ending March 27 and a further 95 people were admitted to the intensive care unit.

The numbers show that the 25 to 44 age group still has the highest number of confirmed cases. In the week ending October, the average age for a new confirmed Covid-19 case, according to the data, was 33 years.

The number of weekly confirmed Covid-19 cases was less than 5,000 for the first time in four weeks ending October 30, the CSO said.

Cases in Dublin remained high, with capital accounting for 31 percent of all cases in the final week of October (1,202 cases in Dublin). It was the seventh straight week that Dublin had more than 1,000 weekly cases. Cork followed with the second highest number of cases last week with 570. Trends in the county show that Donegal, Galway and Mayo accounted for 45 percent of all outbreak-related cases in the week ending October 30th.

While there were 75,837 community test referrals in the last week of October, referral numbers have declined, particularly in the 0-14 age group that has dropped from 18,629 to 10,935. This week, however, the schools were closed for half-time.

In the last week of October, a total of 99,657 tests were carried out with a positivity rate of 5.3 percent, compared with 6.6 percent in the previous week. In the last week of October, 175 healthcare workers tested positive for the virus. A total of 10,522 health care workers have tested positive or Covid-19 since March.

Outbreaks in private homes made up nearly half of all cases last month, while nursing homes made up 9 percent of cases and childcare facilities and schools combined make up an additional 9 percent.

As of October 30, it was confirmed that 1,679 people had died across the country. Another 229 deaths were cited as “likely links” to the virus.

Dublin had by far the highest death toll from the virus with 833 deaths from Covid-19 in the capital, followed by Kildare, where 156 people lost their lives. Cork has suffered 59 deaths since last March and Meath has also lost 59 people to the virus. Only two counties, Leitrim and Waterford, have not recorded any Covid-19-related deaths.

It has been confirmed that to date 11 healthcare workers have died from the virus, while another 57 healthcare workers who died during the pandemic may also have contracted the virus. The average age for healthcare workers who died of Covid-19 was 51 years.

The Covid-19 numbers show that by the end of October a total of 61 men more than women had died. Almost two thirds of all deaths (64 percent) were people aged 80 and over.