MORE THAN half of all coronavirus cases in Ireland have fully recovered from the virus, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan has confirmed.
Newly-published statistics from the Department for Health have revealed that 8,377 people have recovered in the community while a further 856 have recovered in hospitals.
The figures are based on an analysis of the confirmed cases, which currently stands at 15,186.
Despite the positive figures, Dr Holohan was keen to stress there is still "no room for complacency" in Ireland’s handling of the pandemic.
He said: "An analysis of 15,186 cases reveals that 8,377 (55%) have fully recovered from Covid-19 in the community.
"We are now in our eighth week since the first case of Covid-19 was reported in Ireland.
"In that space of time we, as a country, have managed to suppress the virus in our community.
"As we move forward, we must look to protecting our vulnerable populations and maintain the progress we have made so far. There is no room for complacency."
He added that the figures were broadly in line with similar recovery rates around the world.
“It’s giving us a picture which is probably similar to what our understanding, our expectation, might have been,” he said.
“It doesn’t surprise us in terms of what we might have expected, and some of the figures that we would have had all along about our hospitalisation rates, our admission rates into intensive care, would be suggesting that we’re having an experience of the disease which is consistent with the international picture.”
The figures come after Department of Health confirmed another 44 people have died from the coronavirus in Ireland.
A further 388 new cases of COVID-19 were also confirmed.
