Health officials have expressed grave concern over the high number of new Covid-19 cases confirmed in Ireland today.
There are 1,095 new cases of the virus in the Republic, including 29 in Donegal.
Five new deaths have been notified to the Department of Health. There has been a total of 1,835 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland.
With Northern Ireland reporting a record daily increase of 1,217 cases, today’s figures represent a record number of new cases in a single day on the island of Ireland.
Donegal’s 14-day Covid incidence rate now stands at 353.7 – the third highest in the Republic. There have been 563 new cases in the county in the past 14 days.
The counties Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal continue to have the highest rates this side of the border and are the focus of Cabinet discussions this evening.
As of 2pm today, 232 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised in the Republic, of which 30 are in ICU. There have been nine additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said: “Today, we again report a daily new confirmed case figure over 1,000. This situation is extremely concerning. Every single one of us has a role to play.
“We each need to reduce contact with other people as much as possible, so that means staying at home, working from home where possible, practicing physical distancing and stopping discretionary socialising.”