^
abcdefAdjusted to include backlogged cases initially announced on 2020-04-10 based on the
HSE operations updates.
^The large increase in the death count on 2020-04-24 is due to the new inclusion of "probable" deaths, where a lab test has not been done, but a doctor believes the death is due to COVID-19.
^The large increase in the cases count on 2020-05-14 is due to a reporting backlog from
Mater Hospital, Dublin.
^The large increase in the cases count on 2020-07-30 is due to a cluster at a dog food factory in
Naas,
Kildare and in cases related to the
construction industry.
^
abThe large increases in the cases counts on 2020-08-07 and 2020-08-08 is due to a number of clusters and outbreaks in counties
Kildare,
Laois and
Offaly resulting in the announcement of a three-week regional lockdown for the three counties.
^The large increase in the cases count on 2020-08-15 is due to multiple clusters and outbreaks with secondary spread of disease in all
provinces of Ireland.
^The large increase in the cases count on 2020-12-05 is due to a technical issue that delayed uploading of laboratory results to the
Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).
^
abcdefgThe large increases in the cases counts from 2021-01-02 to 2021-01-08 is due to a reporting backlog of positive tests since Christmas that delayed formal reporting.
8 January – A further 26,122 cases (the highest number of confirmed cases recorded in a single day since the pandemic began) were reported, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 956,720.[8]
10 January – A further 23,909 cases were reported, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,002,013.[9]
11 January –
Chief Medical OfficerTony Holohan estimated that up to 500,000 people (10% of Irish population) contracted COVID-19 in the previous week.[10]
12 January
A further 20,909 cases and 83 deaths were reported, bringing the totals to 1,042,212 cases and 6,035 deaths.[11]
The Government approved changes to isolation periods for close contacts and those who test positive for COVID-19, which would take effect from 14 January.[12]
15 January – Positive
antigen tests started to be reported, after the
HSE launched a new website to log positive antigen tests.[13]
19 January
A further 6,843 PCR-confirmed cases and 5,295 positive antigen tests, along with 52 deaths were reported, bringing the totals to 1,122,428 cases and 6,087 deaths.[14]
The Government agreed a plan to give frontline healthcare workers a once-off €1,000 tax free payment for their work during the pandemic and also agreed on an extra
public holiday on 18 March in remembrance of people who died due to COVID-19.[15]
21 January –
TaoiseachMicheál Martin announced the easing of almost all COVID-19 restrictions from 6am on 22 January, with the requirements of vaccine certificates and social distancing to end, restrictions on household visits and capacity limits for indoor and outdoor events to end, nightclubs to reopen and pubs and restaurants to resume normal trading times, while rules on isolation and the wearing of masks would remain.[16]
26 January – A further 5,605 PCR-confirmed cases and 4,809 positive antigen tests, along with 49 deaths were reported, bringing the totals to 1,159,271 cases and 6,136 deaths.[17]
28 January – The
Department of Health confirmed that daily COVID-19 figures would no longer be released at weekends.[18]
29 January – The
Novavax vaccine was approved for use as Ireland's fifth COVID-19 vaccine.[19]
17 February – The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) recommended that the requirement to wear masks in most areas, where currently regulated, should end, while
Chief Medical OfficerTony Holohan proposed that the NPHET be disbanded and replaced with a smaller monitoring group.[22]
22 February – The Government agreed to end almost all remaining COVID-19 restrictions from 28 February, with mask wearing in schools, indoor retail settings and on public transport to be voluntary, restrictions in schools to end and
testing to be scaled back.[24]
28 February – The Department of Health had confirmed 1,300,422 cases and 6,497 deaths by the end of February.[25]
Latest figures showed that the number of people with COVID-19 in hospitals rose by over 30% in the last week, with Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly saying the numbers were creating a "very heavy burden" on hospitals.[28]
Bereaved families of healthcare workers could now receive compensation.[29]
17 March
Celebrations took place across the country to mark
St Patrick's Day, following a two-year absence due to COVID-19, with around 400,000 people attending festivities in Dublin.[30]
20 March – Events were held across the country to mark a national day of remembrance and reflection in honour of the more than 6,600 people who died from COVID-19.[32]
21 March – Ireland entered a new wave of the Omicron variant, as latest figures showed that 63,954 people had tested positive for COVID-19 since St Patrick's Day, while hospitalisations were at its highest level in nearly a year at 1,308.[33]
22 March – The
World Health Organization said Ireland was among some countries that eased restrictions too "brutally" and were now seeing a spike in cases as a result.[34]
27 March – Latest figures showed that there were 1,569 patients in hospitals with COVID-19, the highest figure in 14 months.[38]
29 March –
Minister for HealthStephen Donnelly said there were no plans for restrictions to be re-introduced, despite the number of COVID-19 cases likely to be "hundreds of thousands" per week, while he said the
BA.2 variant now accounted for about 95% of cases in Ireland.[39]
4 April – The HSE announced that their Chief Operations Officer Anne O'Connor would be leaving the organisation in the summer to take up a new role as Managing Director of VHI Health and Wellbeing.[41]
6 April – The
National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) recommended a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose for everyone aged 65 and older, and for those aged 12 and older who are immunocompromised.[42]
9 April –
Chief Medical OfficerTony Holohan announced that he would retire on 1 July and would not take up a planned academic position at Trinity College Dublin, following several days of
controversy.[45]
14 April – The
Department of Health advised people to continue to follow public health advice over the Easter bank holiday weekend.[46]
16 April – COVID-19 hospital and ICU numbers continued to decrease to its lowest levels since 5 March. Cases also continued to decline sharply.[47]
23 April – The first full-capacity concert at
Croke Park since the COVID-19 pandemic took place, with
Ed Sheeran kicking off his
world tour singing for over 80,000 fans.[48]
26 April – The number of people who died with COVID-19 in Ireland surpassed 7,000, while hospitalisations reached their lowest level since December 2021.[49]
27 April – The
World Health Organization said there would be surges in COVID-19 cases every three months, with Ireland expected to see another surge in four to six weeks.[50]
29 April – The
Department of Health announced that updates on the number of new COVID-19 cases in Ireland would no longer be published daily.[51]
22 May – According to the latest weekly COVID-19 report from Chief Medical Officer
Tony Holohan, two cases of the
BA.4 sub-variant of Omicron were confirmed in Ireland during the week of 7 May.[53]
12 June – COVID-19 hospitalisations continued to increase with warnings from Ireland's leading medical professionals that a summer wave was likely to be on the way.[56]
15 June –
Professor Breda Smyth was appointed interim
Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health from 4 July, pending the completion of an open competition to fill the role on a permanent basis, after incumbent
Dr Tony Holohan announced that he would resign on 1 July.[57]
20 June – Latest figures showed that there were 606 patients in hospital with COVID-19, an increase of 153 from the previous week. HSE Chief Clinical Officer
Dr Colm Henry said he was "very concerned", while a virologist at
UCD said it was too late to reintroduce mandatory mask wearing, adding that the latest wave of infection had been "completely predictable".[58]
27 June –
Paul Reid announced that he would be stepping down from his position as Director-General of the
Health Service Executive at the end of the year "to spend time with his family".[59]
28 June – It was reported that early work was under way on new legislation which would allow the Government to make mask-wearing mandatory again in certain settings as a precautionary measure in the event of the COVID-19 situation worsening in the winter.[60]
29 June – The
Health Service Executive (HSE) had confirmed 1,600,614 cases and 7,499 deaths by the end of June.
July 2022
1 July
More than 800 people were in hospital with COVID-19 for the first time since April.[61]
5 July –
Interim Chief Medical OfficerProfessor Breda Smyth said Ireland was currently experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases and urged the older population to avail of a second booster, describing the COVID-19 situation as being one of mitigation and not containment.[63]
11 July – More than 1,000 people were in hospital with COVID-19 for the first time since April.[64]
27 July – A recommendation from Interim Chief Medical Officer Professor
Breda Smyth that all
Health Service ExecutiveCOVID-19 testing facilities be stood down from the autumn and to end free COVID-19 tests was accepted by Government.[66]
October 2022
3 October – The HSE launched its winter vaccination programme offering the annual flu vaccine and new COVID-19 booster vaccines, which protect against the Omicron variant.[67]
11 October –
Minister for HealthStephen Donnelly presented the Government with an emergency response plan to ensure Ireland could appropriately deal with a new COVID-19 variant of concern, saying that there had been a "significant" increase in the number of hospitalisations over the previous week.[69]
December 2022
20 December –
Chief Medical OfficerBreda Smyth appealed to people with flu-like symptoms to stay at home and to return to wearing masks on public transport, saying she was "very worried" about a recent surge in COVID-19 ahead of increased socialising over the Christmas period.[70]
21 December – The HSE's Chief Clinical Officer
Dr Colm Henry urged people to wear masks on public transport and busy settings, as the number of recorded COVID-19 infections rose, saying that cases were up 75% in one week, while hospitalisations were up 90% since the beginning of December.[71]
29 December – The HSE announced that people aged 18 to 49 would be offered their second booster dose and a first vaccine for infants and children aged six months to four years was also authorised amid concerns about a rise in cases of COVID-19, influenza and other respiratory illness.[72]
31 December – The
Health Service Executive (HSE) had confirmed 1,690,492 cases and 8,293 deaths by the end of 2022.
^
abcdefAdjusted to include backlogged cases initially announced on 2020-04-10 based on the
HSE operations updates.
^The large increase in the death count on 2020-04-24 is due to the new inclusion of "probable" deaths, where a lab test has not been done, but a doctor believes the death is due to COVID-19.
^The large increase in the cases count on 2020-05-14 is due to a reporting backlog from
Mater Hospital, Dublin.
^The large increase in the cases count on 2020-07-30 is due to a cluster at a dog food factory in
Naas,
Kildare and in cases related to the
construction industry.
^
abThe large increases in the cases counts on 2020-08-07 and 2020-08-08 is due to a number of clusters and outbreaks in counties
Kildare,
Laois and
Offaly resulting in the announcement of a three-week regional lockdown for the three counties.
^The large increase in the cases count on 2020-08-15 is due to multiple clusters and outbreaks with secondary spread of disease in all
provinces of Ireland.
^The large increase in the cases count on 2020-12-05 is due to a technical issue that delayed uploading of laboratory results to the
Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).
^
abcdefgThe large increases in the cases counts from 2021-01-02 to 2021-01-08 is due to a reporting backlog of positive tests since Christmas that delayed formal reporting.
8 January – A further 26,122 cases (the highest number of confirmed cases recorded in a single day since the pandemic began) were reported, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 956,720.[8]
10 January – A further 23,909 cases were reported, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,002,013.[9]
11 January –
Chief Medical OfficerTony Holohan estimated that up to 500,000 people (10% of Irish population) contracted COVID-19 in the previous week.[10]
12 January
A further 20,909 cases and 83 deaths were reported, bringing the totals to 1,042,212 cases and 6,035 deaths.[11]
The Government approved changes to isolation periods for close contacts and those who test positive for COVID-19, which would take effect from 14 January.[12]
15 January – Positive
antigen tests started to be reported, after the
HSE launched a new website to log positive antigen tests.[13]
19 January
A further 6,843 PCR-confirmed cases and 5,295 positive antigen tests, along with 52 deaths were reported, bringing the totals to 1,122,428 cases and 6,087 deaths.[14]
The Government agreed a plan to give frontline healthcare workers a once-off €1,000 tax free payment for their work during the pandemic and also agreed on an extra
public holiday on 18 March in remembrance of people who died due to COVID-19.[15]
21 January –
TaoiseachMicheál Martin announced the easing of almost all COVID-19 restrictions from 6am on 22 January, with the requirements of vaccine certificates and social distancing to end, restrictions on household visits and capacity limits for indoor and outdoor events to end, nightclubs to reopen and pubs and restaurants to resume normal trading times, while rules on isolation and the wearing of masks would remain.[16]
26 January – A further 5,605 PCR-confirmed cases and 4,809 positive antigen tests, along with 49 deaths were reported, bringing the totals to 1,159,271 cases and 6,136 deaths.[17]
28 January – The
Department of Health confirmed that daily COVID-19 figures would no longer be released at weekends.[18]
29 January – The
Novavax vaccine was approved for use as Ireland's fifth COVID-19 vaccine.[19]
17 February – The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) recommended that the requirement to wear masks in most areas, where currently regulated, should end, while
Chief Medical OfficerTony Holohan proposed that the NPHET be disbanded and replaced with a smaller monitoring group.[22]
22 February – The Government agreed to end almost all remaining COVID-19 restrictions from 28 February, with mask wearing in schools, indoor retail settings and on public transport to be voluntary, restrictions in schools to end and
testing to be scaled back.[24]
28 February – The Department of Health had confirmed 1,300,422 cases and 6,497 deaths by the end of February.[25]
Latest figures showed that the number of people with COVID-19 in hospitals rose by over 30% in the last week, with Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly saying the numbers were creating a "very heavy burden" on hospitals.[28]
Bereaved families of healthcare workers could now receive compensation.[29]
17 March
Celebrations took place across the country to mark
St Patrick's Day, following a two-year absence due to COVID-19, with around 400,000 people attending festivities in Dublin.[30]
20 March – Events were held across the country to mark a national day of remembrance and reflection in honour of the more than 6,600 people who died from COVID-19.[32]
21 March – Ireland entered a new wave of the Omicron variant, as latest figures showed that 63,954 people had tested positive for COVID-19 since St Patrick's Day, while hospitalisations were at its highest level in nearly a year at 1,308.[33]
22 March – The
World Health Organization said Ireland was among some countries that eased restrictions too "brutally" and were now seeing a spike in cases as a result.[34]
27 March – Latest figures showed that there were 1,569 patients in hospitals with COVID-19, the highest figure in 14 months.[38]
29 March –
Minister for HealthStephen Donnelly said there were no plans for restrictions to be re-introduced, despite the number of COVID-19 cases likely to be "hundreds of thousands" per week, while he said the
BA.2 variant now accounted for about 95% of cases in Ireland.[39]
4 April – The HSE announced that their Chief Operations Officer Anne O'Connor would be leaving the organisation in the summer to take up a new role as Managing Director of VHI Health and Wellbeing.[41]
6 April – The
National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) recommended a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose for everyone aged 65 and older, and for those aged 12 and older who are immunocompromised.[42]
9 April –
Chief Medical OfficerTony Holohan announced that he would retire on 1 July and would not take up a planned academic position at Trinity College Dublin, following several days of
controversy.[45]
14 April – The
Department of Health advised people to continue to follow public health advice over the Easter bank holiday weekend.[46]
16 April – COVID-19 hospital and ICU numbers continued to decrease to its lowest levels since 5 March. Cases also continued to decline sharply.[47]
23 April – The first full-capacity concert at
Croke Park since the COVID-19 pandemic took place, with
Ed Sheeran kicking off his
world tour singing for over 80,000 fans.[48]
26 April – The number of people who died with COVID-19 in Ireland surpassed 7,000, while hospitalisations reached their lowest level since December 2021.[49]
27 April – The
World Health Organization said there would be surges in COVID-19 cases every three months, with Ireland expected to see another surge in four to six weeks.[50]
29 April – The
Department of Health announced that updates on the number of new COVID-19 cases in Ireland would no longer be published daily.[51]
22 May – According to the latest weekly COVID-19 report from Chief Medical Officer
Tony Holohan, two cases of the
BA.4 sub-variant of Omicron were confirmed in Ireland during the week of 7 May.[53]
12 June – COVID-19 hospitalisations continued to increase with warnings from Ireland's leading medical professionals that a summer wave was likely to be on the way.[56]
15 June –
Professor Breda Smyth was appointed interim
Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health from 4 July, pending the completion of an open competition to fill the role on a permanent basis, after incumbent
Dr Tony Holohan announced that he would resign on 1 July.[57]
20 June – Latest figures showed that there were 606 patients in hospital with COVID-19, an increase of 153 from the previous week. HSE Chief Clinical Officer
Dr Colm Henry said he was "very concerned", while a virologist at
UCD said it was too late to reintroduce mandatory mask wearing, adding that the latest wave of infection had been "completely predictable".[58]
27 June –
Paul Reid announced that he would be stepping down from his position as Director-General of the
Health Service Executive at the end of the year "to spend time with his family".[59]
28 June – It was reported that early work was under way on new legislation which would allow the Government to make mask-wearing mandatory again in certain settings as a precautionary measure in the event of the COVID-19 situation worsening in the winter.[60]
29 June – The
Health Service Executive (HSE) had confirmed 1,600,614 cases and 7,499 deaths by the end of June.
July 2022
1 July
More than 800 people were in hospital with COVID-19 for the first time since April.[61]
5 July –
Interim Chief Medical OfficerProfessor Breda Smyth said Ireland was currently experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases and urged the older population to avail of a second booster, describing the COVID-19 situation as being one of mitigation and not containment.[63]
11 July – More than 1,000 people were in hospital with COVID-19 for the first time since April.[64]
27 July – A recommendation from Interim Chief Medical Officer Professor
Breda Smyth that all
Health Service ExecutiveCOVID-19 testing facilities be stood down from the autumn and to end free COVID-19 tests was accepted by Government.[66]
October 2022
3 October – The HSE launched its winter vaccination programme offering the annual flu vaccine and new COVID-19 booster vaccines, which protect against the Omicron variant.[67]
11 October –
Minister for HealthStephen Donnelly presented the Government with an emergency response plan to ensure Ireland could appropriately deal with a new COVID-19 variant of concern, saying that there had been a "significant" increase in the number of hospitalisations over the previous week.[69]
December 2022
20 December –
Chief Medical OfficerBreda Smyth appealed to people with flu-like symptoms to stay at home and to return to wearing masks on public transport, saying she was "very worried" about a recent surge in COVID-19 ahead of increased socialising over the Christmas period.[70]
21 December – The HSE's Chief Clinical Officer
Dr Colm Henry urged people to wear masks on public transport and busy settings, as the number of recorded COVID-19 infections rose, saying that cases were up 75% in one week, while hospitalisations were up 90% since the beginning of December.[71]
29 December – The HSE announced that people aged 18 to 49 would be offered their second booster dose and a first vaccine for infants and children aged six months to four years was also authorised amid concerns about a rise in cases of COVID-19, influenza and other respiratory illness.[72]
31 December – The
Health Service Executive (HSE) had confirmed 1,690,492 cases and 8,293 deaths by the end of 2022.