There have been no new Coronavirus deaths reported today – meaning 1,777 is the death toll in Ireland.
While there has been a total of 93 new cases of Coronavirus have been diagnosed in Ireland today.
34 of these are in Dublin, 7 in Kildare, 6 in Donegal, 6 in Laois, 5 in Limerick, 5 in Wexford and the remaining 30 cases are in Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Louth, Meath. Monaghan, Offaly, Tipperary, Westmeath and Wicklow.
Over the past 14 days, 1,535 cases have been diagnosed. This gives an incidence rate of 32 per 100,000.
564 of these cases are in Dublin, 329 in Kildare, 133 in Tipperary, 82 in Limerick, 44 in Cork and the remaining 383 are spread across 20 counties.
There is now a total of 28,453 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.
Dr. Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; “We continue to see a slow growth of COVID-19 in Ireland.
“The most effective action we can take to reduce the transmission rate of this virus is to reduce our number of close contacts.
“If we do this and keep practicing the other safe behaviours by continuing to physical distance, avoid crowds, wash our hands, cover our coughs and sneezes, wear a face mask where appropriate and download the COVID Tracker app, we have a real chance of slowing the spread of the virus to where we want it to be.”
Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said; “The R-number is now between 1 and 1.2. While this is an improvement on what we have seen recently, it is still not where we want to be.
“We are still seeing growing transmission of the disease and we need to bring the R-number back below 1 if we are to effectively slow the spread of COVID-19 and suppress its transmission.”
Dr. John Cuddihy, Director, Health Protection Surveillance Centre, HSE said; “We are identifying outbreaks in a number of different settings such as private homes, workplaces and social settings.
“Congregated settings are ideal environments for this disease to spread between people. We all must avoid such congregations if we are going to break the chains of transmission of the virus.”
School children tests
The testing of school children and staff for Covid-19 is to be fast-tracked to enable results within 24 to 48 hours, the Department of Health has said.
However, it has cautioned that not every child who is asked not to attend school because of symptoms they are displaying will be tested.
Public health officials have said a decision to test will be a matter for a child or worker’s GP.
Everyone should be aware of the risk factors for getting COVID-19:
- Distance – the risk of getting COVID-19 increases as the distance between you and others gets smaller. Keep 2 metres apart where possible
- Activity – How you spend time with people and what you do with them can increase your risk. Follow the government’s Stay Safe Guidelines when spending time with others
- Time – The more time you spend in close contact with other people can increase your risk of getting COVID-19. Keep track of who you spend time with and how
- Environment – Being outdoors is safer than being indoors. Where possible, meet with others outdoors. If this is not possible, keep windows and doors open when meeting others inside
- Symptoms – Know the symptoms. If you have them self-isolate and contact your GP immediately
Public Health Advice for all citizens available here:
Know the symptoms of COVID-19
- a fever (high temperature – 38 degrees Celsius or above)
- a cough – this can be any kind of cough, not just dry
- shortness of breath or breathing difficulties
- loss or change to your sense of smell or taste
- flu like symptoms
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