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‘Further deterioration’ of Covid-19 spread – Dr Holohan

Ireland’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Holohan has said he is “deeply concerned” at the rate of spread of Covid-19 since Sunday, when NPHET recommended Level 5 restrictions nationwide.

The Department of Health reported a further 5 covid-19 deaths and an additional 611 cases yesterday.

Of the 611 new confirmed cases of coronvirus, 218 of them are in Dublin, 63 in Cork, 60 in Donegal, 35 in Galway, 31 in Kildare with the remaining 204 cases spread across 21 counties.

This means Ireland is now on the brink of passing 40,000 confirmed cases and brings the total number of deaths to 1,816.

Speaking at his first press briefing since his return, Dr Tony Holohan stated that there has been further deterioration across all key indicators.

One such indicator was hospital admissions due to covid-19 which has increased from 122 last Thursday to 156 yesterday. There has also been a further increase of 5 people in ICU meaning there is 25 people in ICU who have covid-19.

Professor Philip Nolan estimated the reproductive rate was now around 1.2. He said Ireland finds itself in a “very precarious” position as we enter a “phase of exponential growth”.

Professor Nolan urged people to radically limit their number of contacts over the coming weeks.

What does Level 3 restrictions mean?