Ireland’s Chief Medical Officer has called for urgent action to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Another 2,975 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed by health officials this evening. Seventy-five deaths have been notified in the past week.
There has been a total of 5,566 deaths related to COVID-19 notified in Ireland.
CMO Dr Tony Holohan said: “A pandemic can be a long and exhausting experience and I am aware that we are all tired of this virus – but the reality is that the virus is here and is circulating at too high a level.
“The action needed now is for all of us to reduce our social contacts and give the virus less opportunity to spread. Reduce the people you intend to meet this week by half. If we all do this collectively, we can suppress current levels of infection.”
Dr. Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said counties Leitrim, Waterford, Carlow, Louth, Laois, Longford, Westmeath, Donegal, Cork, and Kerry, all have a 14-day-incidence of more than 1,000 per 100,000 cases.
As of 8am today, 551 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of whom 89 are in ICU.
Letterkenny University Hospital recorded 22 patients with Covid-19 yesterday. As of 8pm last night, there are two patients with Covid-19 in intensive care.