Galway Bay fm newsroom – The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 61 additional deaths related to COVID-19.

Of the deaths reported today, 58* deaths occurred in January.

The median age of those who died was 83 years and the age range was 41-100 years.

There has been a total of 2,768** COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight, Tuesday 19^th January, the HPSC has been notified of 2,488 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 179,324*** confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. 

Of the cases notified today:

• 1,090 are men / 1,383 are women
• 51% are under 45 years of age
• The median age is 44 years old
• 726 in Dublin, 314 in Cork, 148 in Galway, 133 in Limerick, 130 in Meath and the remaining 1,037 cases are spread across all other counties. 

As of 2pm today, 1,923 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 210 were in ICU at 11am. 85 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said: “The number of cases and deaths that we are reporting today and the persisting high incidence rate of COVID-19 across the country shows that we cannot underestimate the highly infectious nature of this disease and the impact that it can have on families and communities.

“The virus spreads through close contacts, through the congregation of people. We need everyone to stay at home as much as possible, and to work from home, where possible. You should not meet up with friends or loved ones, unless you are caring for them. If you go out for exercise, you need to stay within 5km from your home, wear a face covering where appropriate and wash your hands when you return home to protect yourself from infection.

“If you are COVID positive you should self-isolate and stay at home, in your room, avoiding contact with other people. This is to protect the other people that you live with.”

The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community.

ENDS//

*There are 3 deaths where the date of death is under investigation.

**Validation of data at the HPSC has resulted in the denotification of 1 death. The figure of 2,768 deaths reflects this

***Validation of data at the HPSC has resulted in the denotification of 3 confirmed cases. The figure of 179,324 confirmed cases reflects this.

Today’s cases, 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population and new cases in last 14 days (as of midnight 19 January 2021) (incidence rate based on Census 2016 county population)

5-day moving average 2,556

7-day incidence 424.8

Galway Bay fm newsroom – A number of route options for a greenway connecting Athlone and Galway City have been published.

The five routes outline a variety of options for how the final leg of the overall Dublin to Galway Greenway will proceed.

The options vary – ranging from a straight line approach to looping routes which take in large parts of the north east or south east of the county.

The proposed routes will be available on www.galwaytoathlonecycleway.com over the next week.

The public are being encouraged to to have their say, with a public consultation process to start on Monday, January 25th.

Galway East Fine Gael Deputy Ciaran Cannon says this is a crucial phase of the groundbreaking Dublin to Galway Greenway….

To hear more, tune into Galway Bay fm news….

Galway East TD Ciaran Cannon has received confirmation from Minister Eamon Ryan that the contract to carry-out a feasibility study on the rail line will be awarded in February, with the findings expected to be published by September.

Minister Ryan has previously confirmed that the planned double tacking of the line from Athenry to Galway is a priority for his department, while has also said the upcoming study is likely to identify a significant package of works to improve the section from Athenry to Oranmore.

It comes as the population of both Athenry and Oranmore has roughly doubled over the past twenty years, while an estimated 1,500 people commute from the region to Galway city everyday.

Deputy Cannon argues a frequent and reliable train service is needed to encourage people to use public transport and take cars off the road.

He says he fully expects the upcoming study will recommend a significant investment in rail line – to hear more, tune in to FYI Galway@5…