HEALTH OFFICIALS HAVE this evening confirmed 357 new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

The majority of the cases – 218 – are in Dublin.

Three further patients diagnosed with the disease have died. There have been 1,787 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland to date.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 31,549 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

Of the cases notified today:

• 185 are men and 172 are women
• 63% are under 45 years of age
• 38% are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case
• 60 cases have been identified as community transmission
• 218 cases are in Dublin; 18 in Louth; 12 in Waterford; 11 in Kildare; nine in Cork, eight in Kerry; eight in Limerick; eight in Meath, seven in Westmeath, six in Wicklow; five in Offaly; five in Roscommon; five in Mayo; five in Tipperary; and the remaining 32 cases are located in Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Donegal, Galway, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Monaghan, Sligo and Wexford

The HSE is working to identify any contacts the patients may have had to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread.

Dr Ronan Glynn, acting Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health said: “In the first half of 2020, Ireland responded swiftly to a new and unpredictable pandemic. Our collective response suppressed the curve, saved lives and put us on a solid foundation to deal with Covid-19 going forward.

“Now, we must focus on our response to the pandemic in the medium term. Today, government launched a 5-Level framework. At the heart of this framework are three core messages:

1. Simple measures taken by everyone are our best defence against Covid-19.2. No single measure will work in isolation, what matters is combination prevention.

3. Continued cooperation and solidarity across society remains central to our response.

“The basic preventions against the spread of Covid-19 remain unchanged; wash your hands regularly, physically distance from others including friends and family, wear a face covering, know the symptoms and what to do if you experience them.”

Living with Covid plan

The government today announced its five-level plan for ‘Living with Covid-19′ over the next six months.

The plan was announced by Taoiseach Micheál Martin at a briefing at Dublin Castle earlier today.

It sets out five different levels of restrictions that can be in place in different counties, depending on the levels of Covid-19 in each area.

Level 1 will mean the least severe of the restrictions and Level 5 is the most serious.

The Taoiseach said every county in the country is currently at Level 2. This means a range of restrictions are in place, including restrictions on social and family gatherings.

Under the current Level 2, visitors from one to three other households up to a maximum of six people can gather in another household.

This is different in Dublin which is facing “additional measures”. In the capital the six-person limit is also in place but visitors can be from just one other household only.

Dubliners are also encouraged to limit travel outside the region

At a national level, under Level 2, bars, cafés and restaurants may remain open as under the current restrictions and ‘wet pubs’ may reopen around the country, bar Dublin, from next week.