A further 49 people with COVID-19 have died in the Republic, bringing the total number of deaths here to 769.

Ten deaths, which had previously been reported as COVID-19 deaths, have been denotified from earlier figures, the Department of Health said.

The 49 deaths were comprised of 26 females and 18 males and altogether, 33 had underlying health conditions.

Of the 769 deaths overall, 412 are associated with residents of residential care settings, 348 of which are associated with nursing homes.

Meanwhile, of the 327 cases admitted to ICUs, 147 (44%) remain in these units, while 130 (39%) have been discharged. Fifty people have died, which is 15% of all those admitted to ICU with COVID-19.

A further 631 cases of the virus have also been confirmed, bringing the total number of cases here to 16,671.

As of midnight on Tuesday, April 21, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre had been informed of 302 clusters of the virus in residential care settings, 179 of which are in nursing homes.

According to the department's chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan, testing "is a key element to Ireland's response to COVID-19". As a result, the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) had asked the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) to carry out a health technology assessment of alternative diagnostic testing methods for detecting COVID-19.

"We have identified a range of diagnostic tests, both in development and already commercialised, that will need to be reviewed as part of a comprehensive quality assurance programme before being adopted as part of a national testing programme.

"However, the assessment has confirmed that Ireland's current test, the real-time RT-PCR, remains the ‘gold standard' test for detecting and confirming COVID-19 cases," commented Dr Máirín Ryan of HIQA.

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.