LAST UPDATE | 18 Mar 2020

SEVENTY FOUR NEW cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed this evening.

There are now 366 cases in the Republic. Six new cases were announced in Northern Ireland today, bringing the total number there to 68.

The total number on the island of Ireland now stands at 434.

Health officials updated the number of confirmed cases here at their daily press briefing this evening.

There are now over 200,000 confirmed cases worldwide and more than 7,600 deaths.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre said the new cases are made up of 29 females and 45 males.

The National Public Health Emergency Team has made available an analysis of the 271 cases notified as at midnight Monday, 16 March, 2020.

The following information has been released this evening:

• Of the 271 cases notified 40% are male and 59% female, with 23 clusters.
• To date 42% cases are travel related, 22% associated with community transmission, 17% are as a result of local transmission and 20% remain under investigation.
• Two thirds of cases are younger than 55 years, with almost one in four cases aged 35 – 44 years.
• One in five cases are healthcare workers with 37% of these cases associated with travel.
• Dublin has the highest number of cases at 129, followed by Cork (48) and Limerick (14).

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer in the Department of Health, said: “Again, today we are seeing another increase in case numbers. The importance of social distancing cannot be underestimated. Everyone must play their role.

 “We need to continue maximising our efforts to interrupt new transmission chains and keep clusters under control.

“Reduce your social contacts to those in your closest family network. Practice social distancing. Stop shaking hands and hugging when you say hello.”

There are three counties that have not yet experienced a case of Covid-19 – Leitrim, Laois and Monaghan.

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Holohan said that – so far – there’d been an “extraordinary level of compliance” from the public in terms of the social distancing measures being advised.

He said while the public is “behaving responsibly”, it is too early to tell if this will make a difference to the expected number of 15,000 confirmed cases by the end of the month.

It is also expected that the department will provide figures on the number of people who’ve recovered from the virus later this week. 

With reporting from Sean Murray