There have been 44 further coronavirus deaths in Ireland.

The latest figures show 597 new cases have been confirmed, along with 112 back from a German laboratory.

This brings the total number of new cases on Friday to 709.

It brings the overall death toll to 530 and the number of confirmed cases to 13,980.

Some 33 of Friday's reported deaths were in the east of the country, three in the north-west, three in the south and five in the west.

The deaths included 19 women and 25 men with a median age of 84.

Twenty-five people were reported as having underlying health conditions.

There have now been 530 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland. A summary of all 530 deaths provided by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) shows that:

• 308 (58%) of those who died were men 222 (42%) were women
• The age range is 23 - 105 years
• The median age of those who died is 83
• 316 of these cases were admitted to hospital with 45 admitted to ICU

Data from the HPSC, as of midnight on Wednesday, reveals:

• 44% are men and 55% are women, with 436 clusters involving 2,723 cases
• The median age of confirmed cases is 48 years
• 2,082 cases (16%) have been hospitalised
• Of those hospitalised, 294 cases have been admitted to ICU
• 3,347 cases are associated with healthcare workers

Dublin has the highest number of cases at 6,567 (51% of all cases) - followed by Cork with 945 cases (7%).

Of those for whom transmission status is known community transmission accounts for 53%, close contact is 42%, and travel abroad accounts for 5%.

The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) met earlier to continue its ongoing review.

It has been announced that testing capacity is being expanded to 100,000 tests a week, seven days a week for a maximum of six months.

Over the next 10 days, testing of staff and residents in all long-term residential care facilities is to be prioritised.

And a census of mortality across all facilities is to be carried out this weekend to cover all deaths - both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 - since January 1st, regardless of where the death occurred.

It comes as the HSE earlier said it was to increase on-site testing for the virus at nursing homes for both residents and staff.

It is also to implement a tracker system to nursing homes to capture their data.

A CRM tracker will capture their most up-to-date data, and report it back to NPHET.

Figures show there was a significant increase in outbreaks earlier in April, with a predominance in the east of the country.

There are 335 long-term residential centres reporting an outbreak of the coronavirus.

Some 196 of these are in nursing homes - relating to cases among both residents and staff.

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, said: "At today’s meeting of the National Public Health Emergency Team, we endorsed a proposal to increase testing of staff and residents across all long-term residential care settings including nursing homes.

"The behaviour of the virus among vulnerable groups who live in these care settings continues to be a concern and this remains a priority for NPHET.

"While we are suppressing the disease among the general public, we cannot afford to become complacent.

"To remain safe from COVID-19 we need to continue to wash our hands thoroughly and regularly, cough into our elbows and practice social distancing.

"These simple measures can slow down the spread of this virus and save lives."

And Dr Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer at the HSE, said: "Each COVID-19 death reported is a tragedy.

"This is an incurable illness and while 80% of the population will experience a mild form of the disease, our older and more vulnerable people are at a much greater risk due to the behaviour of this disease within this group."

Meanwhile another 847 people have died with coronavirus in UK hospitals - taking the total there beyond 14,000.

England announced another 738 deaths, taking its total to 13,134.

Scotland recorded another 58 deaths, Wales saw  another 11 deaths, and there were 18 more confirmed in Northern Ireland for the second consecutive day.

This brings Northern Ireland's total number of deaths to 176.