HEALTH OFFICIALS HAVE said that there are a further 46 cases of Covid-19 in this country with no new deaths reported.

The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) said this evening that there have now been a total of 26,208 confirmed cases in this country and 1,763 Covid-19 related deaths.

The new cases come following an increasing trend of cases that acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn has described as concerning. 

Of the cases notified today:

• 27 are men, and 19 are women
• 85% are under 45 years of age
• 32 are associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case
• Five cases have been identified as community transmission
• 15 cases are located in Kildare, 8 in Laois, 7 in Clare, 5 in Offaly and the remaining 11 are spread across nine other counties.

Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said: “The vast majority of young people in Ireland have followed public health advice and have made very significant sacrifices to protect themselves and others.

People of all ages will occasionally slip up as they learn to live safely with this virus.

We should not seek to attribute blame, but rather continue to encourage one another to build on and sustain the great efforts that we have all made to date.

“We continue to urge everyone to observe the safe behaviours that we recommend such as physical distancing, washing hands regularly, wearing a face covering where appropriate, avoiding crowds and doing all we can to protect each other.”

NPHET will meet tomorrow to discuss how the disease is spreading.

You can find more detailed information on how Covid-19 is spreading in Ireland here.

- with reporting from Gráinne Ní Aodha