Tomas Doherty
Three further deaths and 335 new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the Republic.
A total of 2,036 people have died from coronavirus in the State since the onset of the pandemic.
Of the new cases, 64 per cent are in people aged under 45, with 119 cases located in Dublin, 29 in Kilkenny, 23 in Limerick, 20 in Donegal, 19 in Tipperary, 19 in Cork, and the remaining 106 cases spread across 19 other counties in the Republic.
Some 247 Covid-19 patients are in hospital, with 35 in intensive care.
Counties Donegal and Louth have the highest infection rates in the State.
In Donegal, the 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population is 218, and in Louth it stands at 201.7. The county with the lowest rate is Wexford at 36.7.
Northern Ireland
Meanwhile, a further eight people with Covid-19 have died in Northern Ireland, the region’s Department of Health has confirmed.
The death toll recorded by the department now stands at 962, as another 442 confirmed cases of the virus were recorded in the last 24-hour reporting period.
A total of 51,118 people have now tested positive for Covid-19 in the North since the pandemic first began.
The leader of the SDLP, Colum Eastwood, said the Stormont Executive made “huge mistakes” with Covid-19 restrictions.
Mr Eastwood said the Irish Government “did things properly” and a full lockdown should have been imposed in the North weeks ago.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s News at One, he said “one approach” for the island of Ireland would have been much better.
“The Dublin Government did things properly. We should have gone into full lockdown but only the pubs closed. Retail remained open and people were walking about,” Mr Eastwood said.
The virus did not recognise that there were two jurisdictions, he added. “We have to operate as one island. There is a responsibility to get the virus numbers under control.”
If the people of the North were sensible “then we could have some sort of Christmas,” he said.
Mr Eastwood pointed out that 30,000 people cross the Border every day to go to work, school and shop. “It’s not at all an international border.”
Now that the North was facing into “proper lockdown” it was an opportunity to get figures down: “We have a responsibility to sort this out.”
Mr Eastwood said he hoped the two-week circuit-break lockdown would make a difference. – Additional reporting: Vivienne Clarke, Press Association
