HEALTH OFFICIALS HAVE confirmed 66 additional cases of Covid-19 today.

However, there were no more deaths reported from the virus.

There has now been a total of 27,257 cases of Covid-19 confirmed in Ireland and 1,774 deaths associated with the disease.

The Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn urged people to continue socially distancing and to engage with other measures to fight the virus, following a sharp rise in cases yesterday.

He said that the National Public Health Emergency Team (NHPET) will formally meet tomorrow to review and discuss the case figures that have been reported in recent days.

Speaking on RTÉ News this evening, Glynn said he would not be drawn on whether more restrictive measures would be recommended tomorrow, but highlighted that there had been an increase in cases in every part of the country in recent weeks.

Of the cases notified today, 34 are in men  and 29 are in women, while 67% are among those under 45 years of age.

Meanwhile, 12 cases are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case, with three cases identified as due to community transmission. The remainder of these cases are still under investigation.

In terms of location, 21 cases are based in Kildare, 16 are in Dublin, and 6 are in Limerick.

The remaining 23 cases are in based Clare, Donegal, Laois, Louth, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Wicklow.

Glynn suggested that NPHET could make recommendations to the Government tomorrow to protect vulnerable members of society, continue with the resumption of healthcare services and ensure the safe reopening of schools.

“The phased reopening of the country has afforded people the opportunity to socialise with each other again,” Glynn said.

“However, some are doing this recklessly and undermining the efforts of the majority of people around the country who are following public health advice. This cannot continue. This pandemic isn’t over just because we are tired of living with it.

“We must all learn to behave and interact in a new way over the coming months so that Covid-19 cannot take root again in our communities.

“Please avoid crowds, reduce your social contacts, keep your distance from others, wash your hands and wear face coverings.”

Earlier, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, Green Party leader minister Eamon Ryan, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly and acting chief medical officer Ronan Glynn met this morning to discuss yesterday’s rise in cases.

200 new cases were reported to the NPHET on Saturday, the highest daily total since the beginning of May.