HEALTH OFFICIALS HAVE confirmed a further 396 cases of coronavirus in Ireland, with no new deaths reported.

In a statement this evening, the Department of Health said that there have now been a total of 32, 933 confirmed cases in this country, and 1,792 Covid-19 related deaths.

A total of 241 cases were recorded in Dublin.

The county has seen a considerable increase in the number of people infected with Covid-19 in recent weeks and is now under Level 3 of the Government’s five-level plan. 

Of the cases notified today;

• 172 are men / 224 are women;
• 70% are under 45 years of age;
• 26% are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case;
• 58 cases have been identified as community transmission;
• 241 cases are in Dublin, 36 in Cork, 19 in Donegal, 12 in Galway, 11 in Meath, 11 in Kildare, 9 in Monaghan, 7 in Louth, 6 in Clare, 6 in Offaly, 6 in Waterford and 5 in Wicklow;
• The remaining 27 cases spread across 11 counties.

There are 82 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in hospital, with 17 patients in intensive care. Over the last seven days more than 83,000 tests were completed with a positivity rate of 2.1.

Dr Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said: “The cases we are reporting today were seeded in the last week.

“This virus spreads from person to person. We now have a collective task across the country to break the chains of transmission and stop this virus from spreading further.

Plan to see half the number of people this week that you saw last week. When you do meet, do so safely – keep your distance, wear a face covering if appropriate and wash your hands.

“Every individual action we take to interrupt the transmission of this disease keeps ourselves and our families safe.”