Ireland saw yet another encouraging drop in coronavirus figures this evening with just 270 cases being confirmed.
However there was a large number of deaths recorded this evening compared with recent weeks after 16 new Covid-19 related deaths were announced.
14 of those deaths occurred in November, 1 in October and 1 remains under investigation.
Despite this the Chief Medical had an encouraging message as he revealed the 14 day incidence rate in Ireland has plummeted by 51% in comparison to the last two weeks.
Dr Tony Holohan, said: “The significant improvement in the profile of the disease is encouraging: the 14-day incidence of 152 cases per 100,000 is down by 51% compared to the previous two weeks.
“To maintain this positive trajectory, we need to remain vigilant to the highly infectious nature of this virus, which can easily spread from person to person through close contact and by social mixing.
"Our individual everyday choices to stay at home and keep our contacts to a minimum are vital to driving down the spread of COVID-19.”
Of Tuesday's cases 82 were in Dublin, 21 in Donegal, 18 in Roscommon, 17 in Limerick, 17 in Tipperary and the remaining 115 cases are spread across 20 other counties.
As of 2pm on Tuesday, 282 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 40 are in ICU a jump of 21 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
There is now a total of 65,889 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland while the death toll now sits at 1,963.
Validation of data at the HPSC has resulted in the denotification of 1 death the denotification of 40 confirmed cases. The figure of 1,963 deaths and of 65,889 confirmed cases reflects this.
