Covid-19: 'Positive signs' as HSE ramps up weekly testing capacity to 140,000

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said the coronavirus infection rate, positivity rate, and reproductive number have fallen in recent days showing “positive signs” for the country. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

The Covid-19 infection rate, positivity rate, and reproductive number have fallen in recent days showing “positive signs” for the country, the Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said.

The minister told the Oireachtas Health Committee the latest Covid-19 metrics were “hopeful” and confirmed that the reproductive or R number had fallen from 1.0 last week to between 0.7 and 0.9 in recent days.