A further 174 coronavirus cases have been reported today as Ireland sees a massive jump in infections.
Meanwhile one more person has sadly died from Covid-19 it has been announced.
Concern has been raised in recent weeks following a steady increase in cases across the country.
However this week it was announced that three counties would be placed under a second lockdown following a spike in infections in the midlands.
Citizens in Kildare, Laois and Offaly will all face strict coronavirus restrictions from today onwards.
And of today's figures Kildare was identified as the source of most confirmed new cases with a total of 110 of the 174.
Meanwhile 27 were in Dublin, 7 in Cork, 7 in Offaly, 6 in Meath and 17 are spread across thirteen other counties (Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Donegal, Galway, Kilkenny, Laois, Limerick, Mayo, Roscommon, Tipperary, Wexford and Wicklow).
A further breakdown of the cases notified today show:
- 124 are men / 48 are women
- 69% are under 45 years of age
- 112 are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case
- 5 cases have been identified as community transmission.
Dr Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, said of tonight's cases: “While today’s numbers of confirmed cases are high, they are not unexpected. As I said last night, we are expecting significant numbers of cases to be reported over the coming days.
“Throughout this week, we have been testing all workers in facilities where outbreaks of COVID-19 have been identified as well as close contacts of those people who have received COVID positive results.
"Tonight’s figures are a reflection of these measures with 118 of these cases linked to the counties of Kildare, Laois and Offaly.
“Our priority now and our reason for recommending the proactive measures announced last night, is to avoid these cases and clusters leading to widespread community transmission of the disease.
“50 of tonight’s cases are located outside of these three counties and around the rest of the country. I once again ask everyone regardless of where you live in the country to take every precaution possible to help us control the spread of this disease and protect our most vulnerable.
