THERE HAS been positive news in Ireland's fight against coronavirus as it has been confirmed that 90% of all patients have now fully recovered.
The good news was announced by Dr Tony Holohan at yesterday's press briefing by the Department of Health and National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET).
Dr Holohan said that while the recovery rate of 90% was a positive one, "we cannot afford to stop the hard work involved in suppressing this virus".
"COVID-19 is a new disease," he continued.
"Ireland and the world understand more about the virus now than we did at the outset of this crisis. What we do know is that hand washing, social distancing and knowing when to self-isolate do work.
"Our collective efforts are working"- Minister for Health Simon Harris"These measures are the most effective tool we have to keep this virus suppressed and keep up this recovery rate. We know that the vast majority of Irish people understand this, and that they are staying the course with us as we continue to keep case numbers as low as possible."
The recovery rate has risen by six per cent in just under two weeks: on 13 May, Health Minister Simon Harris announced that 84% of patients diagnosed with the virus had made a full recovery.
19,470 people had recovered from the virus as of 13 May-- that figure has now risen to 22,089.
Speaking yesterday as the new recovery rate was announced, Minister Harris posted the good news on Twitter, saying "New information on recovery rate from Covid-19 in Ireland.
"89.7% of people who have been diagnosed with this virus have recovered either in the community or been successfully discharged from hospital. That's 22,089 people who have recovered.
"Our collective efforts are working."
The news comes after a huge boost in optimism earlier this week, where Ireland recorded it's first day with no coronavirus deaths since mid March.
This, unfortunately, has not been replicated since: nine deaths were recorded the following day, and a further 17 deaths were sadly announced yesterday.
The Republic of Ireland now has a total of 1,631 deaths related to coronavirus, and 24,803 confirmed cases of the disease.
