A further 95 cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Ireland this evening, up from 89 on Wednesday.
Once more, Dublin saw the highest number of new cases, with 53 recorded.
Meanwhile, no further deaths with the virus were reported today.
Of the latest cases, 52 are men, 43 are women, 67% are under 45 years of age and 47% are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case.
The other cases included 6 in Kildare, 6 in Meath, the remaining 32 cases are Carlow, Clare, Cork, Kerry, Kilkenny, Laois, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Offaly, Tipperary, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow.
Dr Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; “This virus relies on human contact.
"The virus has not changed and neither have the basic measures that keep us all protected.
"It is these basic measures that are most important to keep COVID-19 under control.
"Remember to wash your hands regularly for 20 seconds, to know the safe way to wear a face covering, avoid touching your face, cough into your elbow, reduce your social contacts and keep a physical distance of 2 metres at the top of your mind when you do meet others.”
There is now a total of 29,206* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland and 1,777 COVID-19 related deaths.
Of the cases notified today;
- 52 are men / 43 are women
- 67% are under 45 years of age
- 47% are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case
- 16 cases have been identified as community transmission
Up TO 1,000 people a day are failing to attend scheduled Covid-19 tests.
The HSE’s Chief Operations Officer Anne O’Connor today pleaded with the public to keep the scheduled appointments - one in four are not showing up.
The news comes as vital healthcare professionals are redeployed from their normal duties to conduct testing and tracing.
As the number of Covid-19 outbreaks and infections has gone up, the HSE has ramped up its testing and tracing operations.
These outbreaks have occurred at specific locations, such as meat processing plants, and have then spread throughout communities across the country.
As part of the ramped-up testing, the HSE has rolled out a national testing programme for all meat processing plants, as well as mushroom factories. It hopes to test 17,000 of these employees each week.
Since the pandemic hit Ireland six months ago, the HSE has conducted 850,000 tests.
HSE chief executive Paul Reid said today that almost 62,000 tests were processed across 46 labs last week, with the average positivity rate at 1.3%.
The majority of people who attend their appointment receive their test result within just over two days of making contact with their GP or other healthcare professional.
But now up to 25% of 3,000-4,000 people who are scheduled for tests each day are not showing up to their appointments.
And this means that others who need tests are being delayed.
Ms O’Connor said: “We’d ask people who are offered a testing appointment to please attend.
“In many of our testing sites, we’re seeing a 25% non-attendance rate.
“Once people are referred from their GP, these appointments are automatically scheduled and if people don’t attend, that’s effectively a missed slot for somebody else.”
Meanwhile, the HSE will next week launch a new recruitment campaign for community “swabbers” who will administer the Covid-19 tests.
These swabbers will help the HSE meet the increased demand for tests - and, crucially, help healthcare professionals who have been redeployed return to their normal duties.
Ms O’Connor said: “This is a new role that has been developed. There’s no qualifications required. Training will be provided for anyone who has a Leaving Cert.”
The application will be online, and the recruitment process begins on Monday.
