HEALTH OFFICIALS HAVE confirmed a further 188 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 33,121 confirmed cases in this country, and 1,792 Covid-19 related deaths.

A total of 76 cases were recorded in Dublin.

Dublin today entered its first full week of Level 3 restrictions after a local lockdown for the county was announced on Friday. 

The county has seen a considerable increase in the number of people infected with Covid-19 in recent weeks. 

Of the cases notified today;

• 96 are men / 90 are women
• 71% are under 45 years of age
• 36% are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case
• 19 cases have been identified as community transmission
• 76 cases are in Dublin, 25 in Cork, 21 in Donegal, 16 in Kildare, 13 in Galway, 7 in Roscommon and 7 in Waterford, with the remaining 23 cases spread across 12 counties.

Dr Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, said: “The spirit of the response to COVID-19 since the outset of this pandemic has been solidarity and cooperation. While this pandemic is a uniquely challenging time for everyone, we can and will support one another in getting through this.

“Encourage your family and friends to heed the public health advice. Now more than ever, we need to work collectively. Our individual actions count on a population level.

“Every one of us doing our bit in our daily lives – halving our social contacts, working from home, keeping our distance, wearing a face covering, washing our hands – matters a great deal. These small, positive steps taken together amount to our best and strongest defence against the virus.”