There has now been a total of 1,763 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight Tuesday 4^th August, the HPSC has been notified of 50 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 26,303 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.

Of the cases notified today;

• 31 are men / 19 are women
• 81% are under 45 years of age
• 42 are associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case
• 4 cases have been identified as community transmission
• 11 cases are located in Wexford, 10 in Kildare, 6 in Dublin, 5 in Donegal, and 18 are spread across nine other counties (Carlow, Cork, Limerick, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Sligo, Tipperary and Wicklow).

The HSE is working to identify any contacts the patients may have had to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread.

The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community.

Dr Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; “I know the decision yesterday not to move to Phase 4 will have been disappointing for many. However, NPHET’s priority must be to control the spread of this virus in our communities and to protect the progress that we have achieved to date.

COVID-19 is an extremely contagious virus and we have seen a significant increase in its spread across multiple counties over recent days. We are monitoring this very closely.

Our focus over the coming weeks will be on continuing every effort to slow the spread of the virus so that our schools can reopen, our healthcare services resume, and our nursing homes are protected

“I would also like to emphasise again the importance of continuing to practice safe behaviours such as physical distancing, washing our hands regularly, wearing a face covering where appropriate, avoiding crowds and downloading the COVID-19 Tracker app. Doing these things makes a real difference when it comes to controlling the spread of this virus.”