Four new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the North of Ireland bringing the total number there to 16.
After three more were announced in the Republic on Monday night it now brings the total figure in the island of Ireland to 40.
Officials in Northern Ireland said that as of 9.00am on Tuesday 10 March testing has resulted in four new presumed positive cases bringing the total number of cases in Northern Ireland to 16.
A spokesperson for the PHA said: “All four cases are adults. One case involved recent travel from Northern Italy. Three of the cases can be traced to a previously reported case that involved recent travel to Northern Italy.
“The Public Health Agency is currently undertaking contact tracing for all four cases.As of 9.00am on Tuesday 10 March testing has resulted in four new presumed positive cases bringing the total number of cases in Northern Ireland to 16.
“All four cases are adults. One case involved recent travel from Northern Italy. Three of the cases can be traced to a previously reported case that involved recent travel to Northern Italy.
“The Public Health Agency is currently undertaking contact tracing for all four cases.”
Last night it was announced by the Department of Health that three more cases had been recorded in the Republic of Ireland - bringing the total to 24.
One case is a female in the south of the country, associated with close contact with a confirmed case.
Another is a female in the west of the country, also associated with close contacted with a confirmed case.
The third is a female in the south of Ireland, a healthcare worker associated with close contact with a confirmed case.
Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said: “While Ireland remains in a containment phase, we will eventually move to delay phase and then on to mitigation phase.
“Containment is about identifying and containing all cases no matter how mild. The delay phase will focus on minimising the spread of the virus. Ultimately, in mitigation phase, we prioritise the cases that are most unwell.
“The decision to move to delay phase will be based on a number of factors, including the amount of confirmed cases in Ireland, speed at which they are occurring and the profile of transmission.
“Ultimately all of the decisions we take are focused on limiting the impact of this disease on our population and our health service.”
