There has been one further death from Covid-19 and 35 new cases in Ireland, according to the Department of Health.
This means the current death toll in the Republic from the virus is 1,773.
In terms of the total number of cases, with 35 new cases today, there are now 26,801 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country.
In the South East, there were 6 additional cases in Carlow, as well as cases in Tipperary and Wexford.
Of the cases notified today;
- 15 are men / 18 are women
- 71% are under 45 years of age
- 24 are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case
- 5 cases have been identified as community transmission
- 6 in Carlow, 5 in Clare, and the remaining 24 of the cases are in Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Kildare, Laois, Limerick, Meath, Offaly, Tipperary, Wexford
As of 8am this morning 14 people are in hospital with Covid-19 and seven people are in intensive care units.
Severe restrictions
This comes as an immunology expert Professor Tomás Ryan has warned that further cases of Covid-19 in counties Laois, Offaly and Kildare could lead to an extension of restrictions by four to six weeks.
The associate professor at the school of biochemistry and immunology at Trinity College Dublin told Newstalk Breakfast that there had to be a trade-off – either two to three weeks of severe restrictions or four to six weeks of lesser restrictions, which was what was happening at present.
“I can’t see how two weeks will be sufficient to contain this,” he said.
He also said that while more people were wearing face coverings, he felt that people were not observing enough physical distance and that the reopening of schools could have to be reconsidered.
Healthcare workers continued to put their lives on the line, they did not need to have to cope with a second surge, he said.
A regional approach was the way to go, he suggested. “Local lockdowns are better than the whole country.”
