'Prioritise who you need to see' as 326 new Covid-19 cases reported
Stephen Donnelly: The Plan for Living with Covid explains restrictions clearly.
File picture: Sasko Lazarov/Rollingnews.ie
The highest Friday total of Covid-19 numbers since April has been announced, with 326 new cases of the disease, but no new deaths, public health chiefs have said.
The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) said, of the new cases reported, 152 were in Dublin, 32 in Cork, 22 in Donegal, 21 in Galway, 15 in Meath, and 11 in Kildare.
One-third of cases is confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or to be close contacts of a confirmed case, while 49 cases have been identified as community transmission, said NPHET. Almost 70% are aged 45 and under, it said.
There is now a total of 34,315 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland, with 1,797 deaths related to the pandemic.
The seven-day average now stands at over 296 cases, compared to over 246 in the seven-day period previously. The 326 is the highest Friday number since April 24.
Acting chief medical officer Ronan Glynn said he is "asking people everywhere but particularly in Donegal and Dublin" to pay special attention to the public health advice.
“I ask every individual to take personal responsibility to prioritise who you need to see, limit the size of your social network, and reduce your social contacts over the coming days and weeks," said Dr Glynn.
“Because while there is every chance that other areas will have to move to Level Three, there is nothing inevitable about it. We have seen previously how people working together can turn the tide on this virus and bring increasing trajectories back under control.
“Know how valuable your individual actions are. Your choices and your actions are part of how we will succeed," said Dr Glynn.
Meanwhile, health minister Stephen Donnelly has said that there is no immediate plan to extend Level Three restrictions to other counties.
The Donegal situation was one that had arisen “very, very quickly” and to which a speedy response was required, he said.
Speaking on Newstalk’s , the minister defended the Government’s Plan for Living with Covid. He said it had made things less confusing for people. No other counties are being looked at “imminently” and the roadmap explains restrictions clearly, he said.
When restrictions had been introduced in Laois, Offaly, and Kildare, people had been “very concerned and agitated”, with the feeling that the measures had “come out of the blue".
Having the roadmap means that people know the levels now operating in Donegal and Dublin and can say “the level is rising in my county, the positivity rate is going up, we may need to go to Level Three”.
Because of the Living with Covid plan, people now know what will happen, said Mr Donnelly.
