Immediate “care and caution” is being urged after six further deaths to Covid-19 and 23 new cases of the virus have been confirmed today.
There is one new case in Donegal, the total of confirmed cases in the county is 467.
The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) has issued the warning.
Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said today that the R-number is now at one or above. The R-number indicates the number of people on average that an infected person will pass the virus on to.
The number of reported cases has increased in the last fortnight.
At this evening’s Department of Health briefing, Professor Nolan said: “There is an immediate need for all of us to take care and cautios in our decisions and actions.”
The additional six deaths brings the overall number of deaths to 1,743 since the outbreak of the virus.
Meanwhile, today’s additional 23 new cases bring the total number of infections to 25, 565.
Dr Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said: “Today, NPHET has recommended that all visitors to healthcare settings, including hospitals, GPs, pharmacies should wear face coverings.
“Fifteen of today’s reported cases are directly or indirectly related to travel. NPHET today reiterates that all non-essential travel overseas should be avoided.
“In addition, 77 per cent of cases reported today are under 25 years of age.
“Covid-19 is extremely infectious and none of us are immune. It is important that we all continue to follow public health advice and risk assess our actions,” he said.
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