A FURTHER 395 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Ireland, the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) has said this evening.

In a statement, it said that a further one person confirmed to have Covid-19 have died.

The death toll from the coronavirus in Ireland is now 1,965, and the total number of confirmed cases is now at 66,632.

Of the new cases confirmed today:

• 197 are men and 198 are women;
• 65% are in people under the age of 45;
• The median age is 35;
• 132 cases are in Dublin, 31 are in Cork, and there are 27 in each of Donegal, Limerick and Galway, with a further 151 cases across 18 other counties.

This afternoon, 279 Covid-19 patients were in hospital with 39 in intensive care. There have been 20 additional hospitalisations in the last 24 hours.

The Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said that case numbers were not reducing in every part of the country.

Holohan pointed to Donegal, which has a 14-day incidence of 281 cases per 100,000 people, compared with a national average of 135 cases per 100,000 people.

“The country as a whole can succeed in suppressing this disease to low levels in the coming weeks,” he said.

“We have achieved a great deal of suppression over the Level 5 period, and the coming weeks will offer us an opportunity to drive transmission down further.”

With reporting from Michelle Hennessy at the Department of Health.