Key Findings:

• There were 21 COVID-19 related deaths in the week ending 03 September 2021
• For the week ending 03 September, the number of weekly cases was 9,835, a decrease of 18% from the previous week
• Those under the age of 44 accounted for 74% of cases in the week ending 03 September 2021
• Dublin accounted for more than a quarter (2,756) of all new cases and Cork was the county with the second highest number of new cases (876) for the week ending 03 September
• Kilkenny, Leitrim, Longford, Sligo and Waterford had the fewest cases, less than 150 cases in each county, in the same week
• Hospitalisations have decreased by 35% in the last week and were 140 in the week ending 03 September from a peak of 1,471 in week ending 15 January
• There were 16 ICU admissions in the week ending 03 September, down from a peak of 123 in week ending 15 January
• The average hospitalisation rate in May, June, July and August was less than 20 people per 1,000 confirmed cases, down from 72 per 1,000 in February
• The average ICU admission rate in June, July and August was less than three people per 1,000 confirmed cases, down from seven per 1,000 in February
• The Human Health & Social Work Activities sector now accounts for 15% of cases, up from 7% in the week ending 24 July

 

This is the thirty-first publication in our series of information bulletins produced by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), that aim to provide insights into those who have either died from or contracted COVID-19, by using data from the Computerised Infectious Disease Reporting (CIDR) provided to the CSO by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre. This Bulletin covers the period from 28 February 2020 to 03 September 2021.

Deaths

For the week ending 03 September, 21 deaths were recorded among confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Throughout the pandemic, most deaths have occurred in the older age groups. In the week ending 03 September 2021, 76% of deaths were in people aged 65 years and over.

Dublin recorded six deaths in the week ending 03 September 2021.

From Table B we can see the overall mortality rate is 14 per 1,000 confirmed cases. This was highest in April 2020 at 74 per 1,000 confirmed cases. The mortality rate was one per 1,000 in August 2021, down from 24 in January 2021. (Note: These figures may need to be revised as there is a time lag between onset of symptoms and death.)

Confirmed Cases

For the week ending 03 September, the number of weekly cases was 9,835, a decrease of 18% from the previous week.

Those aged 25-44 made up 28% of confirmed cases in the week ending 03 September with those aged 65 and over making up 9%.

Dublin accounted for more than a quarter (2,756) of all new cases for the week ending 03 September.

Cork was the county with the second highest number of new cases (876) for the week ending 03 September.

Kilkenny, Leitrim, Longford, Sligo and Waterford had the fewest cases, less than 150 cases each, in the same week.

Hospitalisations

Table 6 shows weekly hospitalisations and admission to Intensive Care Units (ICU), these are dated using the epidemiological date of infection and so can be compared with confirmed cases. The peak week for admissions to hospitals was the week ending 15 January 2021 when 1,471 of the 19,547 cases were admitted to hospital, a further 123 of these were admitted to ICU. In comparison, of the 9,835 confirmed cases in the week ending 03 September, 140 have been admitted to hospital and 16 people to ICU.

Throughout the whole period of the pandemic from March 2020 to the week ending 03 September 2021, the over 65 age category accounted for 52% of all persons hospitalised.

Since the start of the pandemic, 53% of those hospitalised were male and males accounted for 64% of those admitted to ICU.

From Table B, the average hospitalisation rate in May, June, July and August was less than 20 people per 1,000 confirmed cases, down from 72 per 1,000 in February. The average ICU admission rate in June, July and August was less than three people per 1,000 confirmed cases, down from seven per 1,000 in February (Note: These figures may need to be adjusted if someone’s condition worsens as there is a time lag between onset of symptoms and hospitalisation. Also, please note that August rates are provisional).

 

Sector of Employment

In Table 10, the CSO has used Revenue PAYE Modernisation system data to provide insight on employment status of COVID-19 cases. Using pseudonymised identifiers more than 80% of confirmed cases in the CIDR database could be linked to administrative data sources, and of these, approximately 50% had a record of employment. As well as the strict legal protections set out in the Statistics Act, 1993, and other existing regulations, we are committed to protecting individual privacy and all identifiable information from each of the data sources used in our analysis, such as name, date of birth and addresses, are removed before use and only anonymised statistical aggregates are produced.

By matching the month, the COVID-19 case is reported to a record of employment in that month (or most recently available record of employment, currently July 2021 for cases reported in August and September); a further adjustment has been made to account for those coming off the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) scheme. The results attempt to reflect the industry of an employee when they became a positive case in the CIDR system. However, this does not indicate that the case is linked to an outbreak in the workplace.

In Table 10, it can be seen that 16% of reported cases with a record of employment in the week ending 28 August were employed in the Wholesale & Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles & Motorcycles sector. The Human Health & Social Work Activities sector now accounts for 15% of cases, up from 7% in the week ending 24 July. 

In Figure 4, Accommodation and food service activities was the sector that experienced the largest percentage increase in cases from the week ending 29 May. In the week ending 03 July, there was a large shift in the scale of weekly cases and this trend continued into the middle of August. The peak for all sectors was the week ending 14 August, where all sectors saw the most significant rise in cases as cases in the community peaked. After this week, the general trend across sectors is downward, except for human health and social work activities.

For further COVID-19 related information go to the CSO COVID-19 Information Hub

Full statistical tables can be downloaded here:

Table 2: COVID-19 Deaths and Cases Series 31 - Table 2-2A (XLS 41KB)

Table 3: COVID-19 Deaths and Cases Series 31 - Table 3-3A (XLS 50KB)

Table 6: COVID-19 Deaths and Cases Series 31 - Table 6-6A (XLS 33KB)