A further 101 deaths linked to Covid-19 and 879 new cases of the virus have been confirmed by the Department of Health this evening.

Eighty-three of these deaths occurred in January and 18 occurred in February, bringing the death toll to 3,418.

There is now 198,424 confirmed cases of the virus in Ireland.

Of the cases notified today, 383 are in Dublin, 79 in Cork, 53 in Galway, 40 in Limerick, 43 in Meath and the remaining 290 cases are spread across 20 other counties.

There is currently 1,388 Covid-19 patients in hospital, 207 of which are in ICU.

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said: “This is the highest number of deaths we have reported on any single day of the Covid-19 pandemic so far.

“The high mortality we are experiencing as a country at the moment is related to the surge of infection we saw several weeks ago, and the hospitalisations and admissions to ICU that followed as a direct result.

“Although we have seen great improvement in the level of infection being reported, we have a long way to go and incidence needs to decline much further.

“The best way to honour those who have died from Covid-19, and those who loved them or provided care for them, is to follow the public health advice. Stay at home unless absolutely necessary, and encourage your friends, family and colleagues to do the same.

“What we can have control over today is the outlook of this disease in the weeks to come. Your positive actions matter, and they add up at a collective level. Please keep it up.”

It comes as the Oireachtas Health Committee heard today that more than 1,500 people in nursing homes have died with Covid-19.

A total of 1,543 staff and residents in care homes have lost their lives during the pandemic – 369 in the last month alone.

During the third wave of the pandemic, the number of Covid-19 outbreaks in nursing homes has increased fivefold, from 34 in mid-December to 193 by the end of January.

Some 81pc of all coronavirus-linked deaths in healthcare settings in Ireland have been in nursing homes.

A total of 4,300 positive cases were recorded in nursing homes during January, 37% of them healthcare workers.

Questions were raised about the rollout of vaccines in nursing homes by the chief executive of Nursing Homes Ireland, Tadhg Daly.

He asked if a “critical window of opportunity” had been missed by not initiating a widespread rollout of vaccines in nursing homes as soon as the first doses arrived in the country.

He said: “With nursing home residents the most susceptible to the virus, just 10% of the initial 77,000 vaccinations administered by mid-January were within nursing homes.

“It is appropriate to remind that the National Immunisation Advisory Committee agreed nursing home residents and staff would be priority.

“The first vaccines arrived in Ireland on 26th December, yet the first was only administered in a private or voluntary nursing home on 7th January 2021.

“Every day is vital for our nursing home residents and staff.”

Mr Daly said the entire health service is under “immense strain”, with staffing levels the “predominant emergency”.

Some 1,800 nursing home staff are unable to work due to the virus, he added.

“Within homes with outbreaks, available staff are going to extraordinary lengths at huge personal sacrifice to ensure continuity of care.”

Yvonne O’Neill, national director of community operations at the HSE, said the high level of infections over the Christmas period had created immense challenges in the safe, effective delivery of services in the nursing home sector.

Dr Siobhan Kennelly, of the HSE’s National Clinical Advisory Group, said significant support will be needed for staff, residents and families affected by the outbreaks.

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