A FURTHER 242 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 no further deaths due to Covid-19 have been reported.

There have been 2,099 Covid-19-related deaths in Ireland so far, along with 74,468 confirmed cases.

As of 2pm today, there were 233 patients with Covid-19 in hospital. Of these, 28 are in intensive care. 

The 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population is now at 80.4. The highest incidence rate can be found in Donegal with 232.4. The other areas with the highest incidence of Covid-19 in the past two weeks is Kilkenny (172.3) and Louth (156.7).

The county with the lowest incidence is Leitrim (15.6).

Earlier today, a further nine people in Northern Ireland with Covid-19 were confirmed to have died. A further 397 people also tested positive for Covid-19.

At tonight’s press briefing, chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said he felt Dublin city centre was a “little busier” than he thought it may be when he visited it this weekend.

But, he added: “We’ve no reason to believe there’s not high levels of compliance.”

Dr Holohan said that we now have opportunities to do a number of activities with the loosening of restrictions but that doesn’t mean we should do all of them. 

“ If you do all of those things, you’ll increase your opportunity to get this infection,” he said. 

He added that while it is possible there will be a surge in cases in the new year, there are reasons to be hopeful. This includes our situation compared to others in Europe and the expected rollout of a vaccine in the coming weeks and months.