By Tomas Doherty
There have been 825 new cases of Covid-19 and one further coronavirus-related death, the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) said on Monday.
The death toll in the State now stands at 1,827 from a total of 45,531 cases.
Of the new cases, 78 per cent are in people aged under 45, with 254 cases located in Dublin, 147 in Cork, 39 in Cavan, 38 in Donegal, 37 in Kildare with the remaining 310 cases spread across 20 other counties.
The chief medical officer, Tony Holohan, said that positivity rates of the virus are "rising rapidly" in all counties.
Border counties were shown to have had the highest increase per capita in the last fortnight.
In Cavan, the 14-day incident rate per 100,000 population was 385.9. In Donegal, it was 354.9 and in Monaghan it was 330.7. The next highest counties were Clare at 266 and Roscommon at 199.9.
[media=datawrapper]JtuZF[/media]
In the North, a further three deaths and 877 new cases of Covid-19 were reported on Monday.
Almost a third of all confirmed cases in the region since the pandemic began, 6,161 of 21,035, have been reported in the last seven days. There are 140 patients currently in hospital and 22 in intensive care as a result of the virus.
Notwithstanding there was a less extensive testing regime during the height of the pandemic, the soaring figures are causing significant alarm among health officials.
The regional incidence rate stands at 327 cases per 100,000 in the past seven days.
In the Derry and Strabane Council area, which is currently subject to additional localised restrictions, the rate has risen to 971 per 100,000 over the past week.
The weekly meeting of the Stormont Executive, which was scheduled for Thursday, is now expected to be brought forward to Tuesday, an indication that decisions on fresh restrictions are imminent.
The news comes after a Laois nursing home dealing with an outbreak of more than 30 cases of Covid-19 reported that three of its residents had died as a result of the disease.
A fourth resident of the Kilminchy Lodge Nursing Home in Portlaoise has been hospitalised with the virus.
On October 6th the home reported 31 cases of the virus among its residents and staff. Some 21 of the cases were reported to relate to residents.
In a statement issued on Monday afternoon, the nursing home said that “since the outbreak commenced sadly three of our residents have passed away. These residents had tested positive for Covid-19.”
“Two of the deaths were within the nursing home itself, and one person passed away in Portlaoise General Hospital," it said.
