Seven more people have died of COVID-19 in Clare.
It brings the total death toll here to 98, and means that there have more deaths linked with the virus here this year than in all of 2020.
These seven deaths were registered in the week up to last Friday, and mean that at least 51 people here have died from the disease in 2021.
That’s higher than the COVID death toll recorded in Clare in all of last year.
In each of those cases, the people concerned died of the virus, or had been diagnosed with it.
The median age of those who died is 83.
The statistics also show an increase by 19 in the number of weekly cases here.
This had already been reflected in the daily figures announced by NPHET, but in percentage terms this is the highest increase of any county in Ireland.
There has also been an increase in the number of contacts reported by those who test positive, up to an average of 3.5 – only Leitrim reported a higher number.
This relatively high level of social interaction is also reflected in comments this lunchtime by the Department of Public Health in the MidWest, who say they are still seeing evidence of inter-household and family outbreaks.
Amid outbreaks among third-level students, they are reporting a 19% increase in cases among those aged 15-24, when case numbers of other age groups have increased slightly or fallen.
The biggest fall in cases came among those aged 85 and older, a positive indicator on the vaccine rollout.
