CONCERNS HAVE BEEN raised by health officials over “a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in Limerick” linked to a number of social gatherings.

In a statement issued last night, the Department of Public Health Mid-West expressed “serious concerns over a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in Limerick, connected to social gatherings in the past two weeks”.

Dr Mai Mannix, Director of Public Health Mid-West, said: “We have not seen this level of infection in the community since early March, which is a very worrying trend.

“If daily cases continue at this rate, coupled with the health service’s coping with the sinister cyber attack, we will find ourselves in a very troubling position.”

According to provisional data, there were 11 Covid-19 cases on Sunday, 20 cases on Monday, 22 cases on Tuesday, 38 cases on Wednesday, and 46 new cases on Thursday in Limerick city and county.

The statement continues: “Activities contributing to this increase in cases include house parties, indoor gatherings, social activities surrounding last week’s Eid celebrations, and significant onward transmission from weekend social events into workplaces.

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“Though the cyber attack on HSE IT systems has caused significant disruption to Public Health, our team remains in a strong position to identify these behavioural trends and swiftly manage new outbreaks.”

The organisation said its priority is to identify new cases, isolate them, and undertake contact tracing.

People with symptoms or any concerns that they have been exposed to possible infection, have been asked to arrange a PCR test at the Limerick Covid Test Centre.