The total number of confirmed COVID-19 infections to date in Ireland will surpass 50,000 today as the number of cases continues to soar.
A total of 1,283 new cases were confirmed yesterday bringing the total number of infections to date to 49,962. Almost a quarter of all those cases have occurred within the past two weeks alone.
The official figures also show that a total of 290 people were being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals last night (Sunday 18 October), according to the latest Daily Operations Update from the HSE.
This was up from 262 patients on Saturday night. It is also 34% higher than the numbers in hospital with COVID-19 just one week ago when the total was 216.