Ireland's lovers have been told to stick to one sexual partner in a bid to avoid catching Covid-19.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan extended the “no nookie outside home” guidance as eight more deaths were reported, bringing the total in Ireland to 1,658.
He added: "The resumption of intimate close contact between people who live in different houses is not part of our guidance and advice at the moment."
Dr Holohan spoke as health officials in the Netherlands sparked a storm when they advised singles to keep to one “sex buddy” in lockdown.
Asked if he would advise people to do the same here Dr Holohan said: “On the transmission of any infection that can happen as a result of close intimate contact – that could be this infection but it also applies to sexually transmitted infections generally - that is good public health advice.”
Last March, the HSE advised people that they should ‘only be sexually active with someone you live with who does not have the virus or symptoms of the virus’.
It also banned people from being sexually active with anyone outside of their household.
Tonight, Dr Holohan said partners who don’t share a home are still prohibited from close contact under restrictions.
He added: “There is a lot of information for people who are in those situations as to how they can manage their relationships and themselves in those difficult settings.
“We know this is a challenge, some people have relationships who live in different houses and then some people who have relationships who just by virtue of timing they find themselves being stuck in a different country and so on, having to do their best to try maintain a relationship through all that, and that is not easy.”
The National Public Health Emergency Team reported eight more deaths from Covid-19 tonight, bringing the total to 1,658.
There were just 10 new cases with total infections now standing at 25,066.
Dr Holohan said there appears to be no spike in the disease so far following the end of total lockdown on May 18.
All the trends are positive ahead of a crunch NPHET meeting on Thursday to green light phase two of easing restrictions.
“So far we think we are in a good position but we cannot make a conclusion on that before the end of this week. We haven’t seen anything to discourage us yet,” he said.
Deputy CMO Dr Ronan Glynn warned many people are waiting several days to come forward with symptoms which is delaying the testing process.
Dr Cillian De Gascun revealed the positivity rate among more than 22,000 people tested last week was just 1.7 percent.
Over half of 500 new cases detected in the last week have been among people aged between 24 and 55.
“Maybe there is less disease in the community but we are obviously concerned given that number of people who are maybe waiting with symptoms before presenting,” Dr De Gascun added.
