A further 39 people with COVID-19 have died in the Republic, 29 of whom were reported as having underlying health conditions.

Twenty males and 19 females died, with 37 of these deaths occurring in the east of the country and two in the west.

There have now been 610 COVID-related deaths in Ireland and according to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), 346 (57%) of these have been male and 264 (43%) have been female.

The age range of those who have died is between 23 and 105 years, with the median age 83.

Some 337 of these cases were admitted to hospital, with 46 admitted to ICU.

Meanwhile, an additional 493 cases of the virus have been confirmed - 445 by laboratories in Ireland and 48 by a laboratory in Germany.

There are now a total of 15,251 cases of the virus here.

Data from the HPSC shows that of the 14,602 cases reported to it as of midnight on April 17, 2,223 cases (15%) had been hospitalised and of these, 303 cases had been admitted to ICU.

Some 3,788 cases were associated with healthcare workers.

Earlier today, the HSE said that the backlog of testing for the virus had been eliminated and testing is now meeting existing demand. There is now laboratory capacity to do 10,000 tests per day.

"In terms of overall testing and tracing, our primary and priority focus now remains around our long-term residential care settings, including nursing homes, private and public.

"Already this weekend, between Saturday and Sunday, we will have completed 4,000 tests in both residents and staff in those long-term care settings. This is a very significant ramp-up," commented HSE chief executive, Paul Reid, at a briefing in UCD.

However, he added that securing enough personal protective equipment (PPE) "will always remain a major challenge" for the health service, because of significant demands worldwide.

COVID-19 is spread through close contact with an infected person's body fluids (e.g. droplets from coughing or sneezing), or by touching surfaces that an infected person has coughed or sneezed on. It can take up to 14 days for symptoms of the virus to show. These may include a fever, a persistent cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.

COVID-19 can also cause more severe illnesses, including pneumonia and severe breathing difficulties. Some 80% of cases will be mild to moderate, 14% will be more severe, while 6% will be critical.

Restrictions in relation to COVID-19 are now in place until May 5. As part of these restrictions, everybody is being asked to stay at home, except in specific circumstances. These include:
-Travelling to and from work in circumstances where the work is an essential health, social care or other essential service that cannot be done from home
-To shop for essential food and household goods
-To attend medical appointments
-For vital family reasons, such as caring for children or elderly people
-To take brief individual exercise within your locality, which may include children from your household, however this should be within 2km of your home.

All public and private gatherings of any number of people outside a single household or living unit are prohibited.

Those over the age of 70 and medically vulnerable people are also being cocooned. For more information on this, click here.

ALONE, the organisation that supports older people to age at home, is running a national support line for older people facing difficulties due to COVID-19. The support line is open every day from 8am to 8pm, call 0818 222 024.

For more information on COVID-19, click here.