The Department of Health has published the daily COVID-19 case numbers for Saturday and Sunday following a cyber attack that impacted IT systems last week.
As of midnight on Friday, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre was notified of 447 confirmed cases of the virus.
These figures would have been published yesterday, but they were not released due to the disruption caused to the HSE's IT systems following Friday's ransomware attack.
Today's case numbers show that as of midnight on Saturday, 355 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed.
Meanwhile, 109 people are now receiving treatment in hospital for the virus, of which 42 are in ICU.
The Department of Health added that the daily case numbers may change due to future data validation.
Latest coronavirus case figures from Ireland: 447 COVID-19 cases yesterday (yesterday’s numbers were delayed due to the cyberattack) and 355 today. https://t.co/dZarGp3KHq
— Stephen McNeice (@maccytothedee) May 16, 2021
It comes as the Department of Health said investigations are continuing into last week's cyber attack on its systems.
The Department shut down its systems as a precaution following the attack, which occurred on Thursday, and is in the process of safely restoring data.
Authorities are attempting to establish the extent of the breach which is similar to Friday's attack on the health service.
The National Cyber Security Centre, along with Gardaí and the Defense Forces, is liaising with the Department of Health on this ransomware attack.
Investigations are taking place to establish whether the same criminal gang believed to be behind the attack the HSE is involved.
HSE
The HSE is in the process of contacting thousands of patients to reschedule appointments following Friday's cyber attack.
All outpatient and radiology services are impacted, however, chemotherapy and dialysis services are continuing as normal.
COVID-19 vaccination appointments are going ahead as normal but there are delays to the testing and tracing programme.
The health service said it is prioritising emergency services over the coming days, with staff told to “protect unscheduled and urgent care”.
People with outpatient appointments are advised to monitor the HSE website to check what services and hospitals have been impacted.
