HEALTH OFFICIALS HAVE confirmed a further five patients diagnosed with Covid-19 have died and there are 15 new cases of the disease in Ireland.

A total of 1,738 people have died from Covid in Ireland while there are now 25,489  confirmed cases.

The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) has this week expressed concern about non-essential travel, with 31 cases of coronavirus last month associated with travel. 

Chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan said each person must undertake their own “personal mission” to eradicate the virus from the nation. 

He said: “What has been a collective and effective national effort to suppress Covid-19 in Ireland, now also becomes an individual mission. Every person must risk assess their own environments, make appropriate decisions about where they will go and who they will meet, and how they can ensure their safety and the safety of those around them.

 “Continue to follow public health advice, understand the risks of your actions and environments and stay safe.”

Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said the reproductive rate of the disease here has increased in recent days but that can be due to the relatively small number of cases.

“The reproductive number is now estimated to be closer to 1 than it has been in recent weeks. The R number is easily influenced by small changes to the transmission of the virus.

“We have noticed an increase in the number of cases towards the end of last week. It is a trend that NPHET will continue to monitor closely.”