Covid-19: 591 new cases and three further deaths confirmed

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan. Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Three further deaths from Covid-19 have been confirmed this evening by the Department of Health.

The newest figures bring the total number of Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland to 1,933.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) also confirmed 591 new cases of the coronavirus.

The total number of cases since the outbreak began has now reached 64,046 confirmed cases.

There are 302 patients in hospitals with Covid-19 and 38 people in ICU, down three from yesterday.

Dublin reported the most cases today with 120 followed by Donegal with 75 and Cork with 50.

There were an additional 46 in Kerry, 44 in Limerick and the remaining 256 cases are spread across 20 other counties.

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, says Ireland is one of only two European countries seeing a reduction in their 14-day incidence rate.

The other country is Finland.

“A second surge is taking place across Europe," he said.

“Level 5 efforts over the last two weeks have succeeded in further reducing community transmission and disease incidence in Ireland, however, now is not the time to be complacent. We must keep driving down this disease- we must keep going.

“The 19 to 24-year-old age group has achieved a dramatic reduction in incidence, from 450 per 100,000 to 150 per 100,000 in two weeks. They have also halved their contacts in the past 5 weeks. We all need to recognise the efforts of our young people and I thank them.”

Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group.  Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, says that the reproduction number is estimated between 0.7 - 0.9. 

"This is a testament to our collective effort to stop the spread of the virus and it is very good news," he said.

"We may be doing better now but it is conditional on whether we keep it up. If we continue to use this time to drive the infection right down, we will be in a good position in four weeks time.”

Another 12 people have died with Covid-19 in Northern Ireland, and there are 516 new cases.

Meanwhile, retailers have called for an early reopening date for shops if Covid-19 case numbers continue to fall, an industry body has said.

Retail Excellence, the largest representative body for retail in the country, urged the Government to clarify in the next 10 days its plans to reopen non-essential retail so that retailers can prepare for Christmas.

The organisation’s managing director Duncan Graham said it is crucial that the Government meets its realistic and achievable demands if the industry is to recover in 2021.