A FURTHER 269 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 six people confirmed to have Covid-19 have died.

The total number of people with Covid-19 who have died in Ireland is now 2,033, and the total number of confirmed cases is at 71,187.

Of the cases notified today;

• 123 are men / 146 are women
• 64% are under 45 years of age
• The median age is 35 years old
• 88 in Dublin, 42 in Cork, 25 in Limerick, 20 in Louth, 16 in Donegal, and the remaining 78 are spread across 17 other counties 

As of 2pm today 260 Covid-19 patients are in hospital, of which 36 are in ICU. There have been 23 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

The overall 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population in Ireland at the moment is 105.5. 

A NPHET meeting is still ongoing this evening to discuss the most recent Covid-19 data and to make a recommendation to government about potentially easing Level 5 restrictions. 

It is widely expected that Level 5 restrictions – which have been in place since 22 October – will be lifted on 1 December and that the country will enter Level 3, with some modifications, next Wednesday. 

Some details of this planned easing of restrictions was confirmed by the Tánaiste Leo Varadkar earlier today. An official government announcement is expected on Friday after all details are finalised.

With reporting by Stephen McDermott.