There were no further deaths related to Covid-19 and 40 new cases reported in the State on Tuesday.
On Monday the the acting chief medical officer said the spread of Covid-19 in the State has “stabilised” after a recent increase in daily case numbers, but the virus is not currently being suppressed.
Speaking on Monday evening, Dr Ronan Glynn said the incidence of the disease in the Republic is very low at the moment, but that recent concerns over increased cases “haven’t gone away”.
“We were on an upward trajectory, things have stabilised, but our best estimate of the reproduction number… it does appear to still be above one, so as things stand we are not suppressing the disease.”
Emphasising the importance of individuals taking responsibility for their own actions, Dr Glynn: “It was really heartening to see how people responded to the words of caution of the last fortnight.
“We need that to continue and particularly we need that to continue in the next month,” he said, emphasising that schools would reopen and that the lowest prevalence of the disease possible is needed as autumn and winter set in.
Meanwhile in Northern Ireland on Tuesday no Covid-19 deaths were reported leaving the death total at 556. This was the fifteenth consecutive day zero Covid-19 deaths were recorded by the health department. The department ’s figures mainly relate to virus deaths in Northern Ireland hospitals.
It also reported that there were nine new cases of coronavirus bringing the number of confirmed cases to 5,921. So far 138,615 people have been tested for the virus.
