There were six cases of COVID-19 reported by the National Public Health Emergency Team on Monday, but no new deaths related to the coronavirus.
There have been 1,753 deaths related to the coronavirus in the Republic of Ireland, and a total of 25,766 confirmed COVID-19 cases in this pandemic.
“We are now seeing outbreaks of the virus in a range of work settings, including in construction, in fast food outlets and in supermarkets,” said Dr. Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer.
“We can’t underestimate how quickly clusters develop. We have come so far together, but we need to stay vigilant to prevent a resurgence across the whole country in the coming weeks.”
“With the increase in outbreaks in our communities, I would urge everyone to wear face coverings in healthcare settings and when shopping, including in the supermarket and other indoor retail services.”
The Department of Health’s Covid-19 Dashboard has up-to-date information on the key indicators of the disease in the community.
A green list of countries which the government considers safe to travel to is due to be published this week.
However there has been some concern that the existence of the green list conflicts with the ongoing public health advice from NPHET that people should avoid overseas travel except in essential circumstances.
In the past 14 days there have been 270 confirmed cases notified to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre. Of those:
- males 43% / females 57%
- median age is 34 years old; 69% of these cases were under 45 years of age
- 20 counties reported new cases; Dublin 55%, Kildare 10%, Cork 6%. All other counties were 5% or less
Rachel Kenna, Chief Nursing Officer said that healthcare workers have been on the front lines since March, and “deserve our best efforts” to minimise the spread of the coronavirus.
“The impact of any increase in cases will be hard on healthcare workers, who have already given so much to keep us safe this year.”