Strong grounds for optimism as today's Covid figures announced Reporter: There have also been 425 additional confirmed cases. There has now been a total of 254,870 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland and 4,941 deaths. Of the four deaths recorded today, one occurred in January, one occurred in February and two occurred in May. More than 78% of today's cases are under the age of 45, with 4% in people aged over 65. The median age was 29. As of 11.30am, there were 39 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in ICU. Speaking at this afternoon's Department of Heath briefing, the Chair of NPHET's Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group Professor Philip Nolan said the epidemiological situation of the virus in Ireland is "stable", adding that there are "strong grounds for optimism".