Ireland on Saturday reported 174 new cases of COVID-19, by far the highest number of infections since May and up from 98 on Friday and an average of 58 cases per day for the past week.
Chief Medical Officer Ronan Glynn said 118 of the new cases were linked to the three counties - Kildare, Laois and Offaly - where some restrictions on movement were reintroduced on Friday following a surge in cases there.
"While today’s numbers of confirmed cases are high, they are not unexpected," Glynn said. "Our priority now ... is to avoid these cases and clusters leading to widespread community transmission of the disease."
(Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Christina Fincher)
