Coronavirus: Almost half of Irish Covid-19 deaths in care homes

Deaths of nursing home residents account for almost half of all coronavirus-related deaths reported in the Republic of Ireland.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan confirmed on Thursday that 361 nursing home residents had died with Covid-19 since the outbreak began.

That is just over 45% of the country's overall death toll of 794.

It was also announced on Thursday that 28 more people had died in the Republic with Covid-19.

Testing has confirmed another 936 additional cases in the country, bringing the total up to 17,607.

The Irish nursing home statistics correlate with World Health Organisation (WHO) figures that indicate almost half of all people who have died in Europe with coronavirus were residents in care facilities.

Dr Hans Kluge, from the WHO, told a press conference on Thursday there was a "deeply concerning picture" emerging regarding those in long-term care.

Concern over "clusters" of infection in Irish nursing homes and other long-term residential settings led health authorities to order the testing of all residents and staff.

That testing programme began last weekend and was expected to take up to 10 days to complete.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) told BBC News NI on Thursday evening that testers are "sampling in the region of 2,000 residents and staff in nursing homes per day".

Dr Tony Holohan said care homes residents and staff would be tested for Covid-19

At Thursday's Department of Health briefing, Dr Holohan said there were currently 191 Covid-19 clusters associated with nursing homes.

He also confirmed that there were now a total of 2,231 laboratory-confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Irish nursing homes.

Of the 361 nursing home residents who have died, 87 of those deaths took place in hospital settings, according to the chief medical officer.

Speaking on Wednesday, Dr Siobhan Kennelly, from the HSE said it was important to point out that many nursing home residents had survived Covid-19 and were "actually getting better with good supportive care".

"The mortality, we know, is higher than in the general population simply because of the frailty and vulnerability of some of the population within that care setting," she added.

"But there are far more people who recover than die from Covid-19 in nursing homes."

Meanwhile, Irish Education Minister Joe McHugh has confirmed that Leaving Cert exams will go ahead on 29 July.

The Leaving Cert is the Irish equivalent of A-levels.

GCSE, AS and A-levels across the UK have been cancelled in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Speaking in the Dail (Irish parliament), Joe McHugh said that details about the format and timetabling of the exams will be released in the first week of June.