A further eight patients with COVID-19 (coronavirus) have died in the Republic, bringing the total number of deaths here to 54.

Five females and three males died, with six of these deaths occurring in the east, one in the south and one in the west.

The average age of those who died was 86 years and six of the patients were reported as having underlying health conditions.

A further 295 new cases of the virus were also confirmed, bringing the total number of cases here to 2,910.

According to the Department of Health's chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan, while we are beginning to see encouraging signs in our efforts to flatten the curve, "we cannot become complacent as we are still seeing new cases and more ICU admissions every day".

"Our strategy remains the implementation of public health restrictions to interrupt the spread of the virus and prevent people from arriving to ICU in the first place," he explained.

Meanwhile, according to Prof Philip Nolan, chairperson of the National Public Health Emergency Team's Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group (IEMAG), "we know what an unmitigated epidemic looks like and we are not on that track".

"The model reveals that before restrictions were in place, daily growth rate of confirmed cases was at 33%. This has fallen in recent days to around 15%. But it is still growing and needs to fall further.

"It takes time to see the impact of our efforts in the numbers. It will be another seven to 10 days before we have a reliable picture of how effective our collective efforts have been," he noted.

Data from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) has shown that of the 2,475 cases reported to it as of midnight on March 28, the average age of confirmed cases was 47 years and 645 people had been hospitalised. Of these, 84 had been admitted to ICU.

Some 23% (578) of cases involved healthcare workers.

Meanwhile in Northern Ireland, the number of deaths rose by one to 22, while the number of new cases rose by 123 to 533.

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.

New restrictions in relation to COVID-19 are now in place until April 12. Until then, 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.