Easter Sunday 2020: Ireland’s deadliest Covid-19 day

On April 12th there were 45 confirmed Covid-19 deaths and 13 probable ones

Photograph: John Thys/AFP via Getty Images
Photograph: John Thys/AFP via Getty Images

The worst of the coronavirus pandemic hit the country during the week running over the Easter weekend, from Thursday, April 9th to Wednesday, April 15th.

The highest number of deaths, counted by date of death, occurred on Easter Sunday, April 12th when 58 people died, comprising 45 confirmed Covid-19 deaths and 13 probable ones, according to the Department of Health.

The number of new Covid-19 cases recorded across the country’s 29 hospitals was highest on April 9th, when there were 103 additional cases confirmed over the previous 24 hours.

There was also the highest number of new admissions of confirmed Covid-19 patients into hospitals that day, at 57. The number of confirmed cases in intensive care units peaked around this time too, at 160. The highest number of confirmed cases in hospitals stood at 884 on April 14th.

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The number people admitted to hospitals and ICUs with the disease has declined steadily since then.

The highest number of deaths reported in a single day was 77 on April 20th. The reporting usually lags the actual date of death by days but in some instances by weeks or even months.

More than half of the almost 1,700 deaths from coronavirus in the State occurred outside a hospital, with the vast majority of these deaths taking place in a nursing home or residential care facility.

Simon Carswell

Simon Carswell

Simon Carswell is News Editor of The Irish Times