In early-March, 2020, the first case of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Ireland was confirmed in Dublin. As of January 12, 2023, the number of cases in Ireland has risen to 1,697,775.

There were over 270 million coronavirus cases in Europe as of January 13, 2023, with France currently the worst affected country. For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

In early-March, 2020, the first case of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Ireland was confirmed in Dublin. The number of cases in Ireland has since risen to 1,697,775 with 490 new cases reported on January 12, 2023.

Current situation The rate of cases in Ireland over the last seven days is 80 cases per 100,000. While San Marino was the worst affected country, recording a seven-day rate of 336, as of January 16, 2023.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

Background: Since March 2020, Ireland has experienced an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). While several cohorts from China have been described, there is little data describing the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients with COVID-19 in Ireland. To improve our understanding of this emerging infection we carried out a retrospective review of patient data to examine the clinical characteristics of patients admitted for COVID-19 hospital treatment.

Methods: Demographic, clinical and laboratory data on the first 100 adult patients admitted to Mater Misericordiae University Hospital (MMUH) for in-patient COVID-19 treatment after onset of the outbreak in March 2020 was extracted from clinical and administrative records.

Results: Fifty-eight per cent were male, 63% were Irish nationals, and median age was 45 years (interquartile range [IQR] =34-64 years). Patients had symptoms for a median of five days before diagnosis (IQR=2.5-7 days), most commonly cough (72%), fever (65%), dyspnoea (37%), fatigue (28%), myalgia (27%) and headache (24%). Of all cases, 54 had at least one pre-existing chronic illness (most commonly hypertension, diabetes mellitus or asthma). At initial assessment, the most common abnormal findings were: C-reactive protein >7.0mg/L (74%), ferritin >247μg/L (women) or >275μg/L (men) (62%), D-dimer >0.5μg/dL (62%), chest imaging (59%), NEWS Score (modified) of ≥3 (55%) and heart rate >90/min (51%). Twenty-seven required supplemental oxygen, of which 17 were admitted to the intensive care unit - 14 requiring ventilation. Forty received antiviral treatment (most commonly hydroxychloroquine or lopinavir/ritonavir). Four died, 17 were admitted to intensive care, and 74 were discharged home, with nine days the median hospital stay (IQR=6-11).

Conclusion: Our findings reinforce the emerging consensus of COVID-19 as an acute life-threatening disease and highlights, the importance of laboratory (ferritin, C-reactive protein, D-dimer) and radiological parameters, in addition to clinical parameters. Further cohort studies involving larger samples followed longitudinally are a priority.