Coronavirus case numbers have plateaued.

And despite almost three months of Level 5 lockdown restrictions, health experts say “mobility, congregation, and social mixing” are to blame.

A further 582 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the past 24 hours, 13 of which were in Cork patients.

While there were no new deaths, Professor Philip Nolan, chair of the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, told last night’s NPHET press briefing that the group was concerned that the number of hospital admissions – 20 to 25 daily – has also remained static since the beginning of March.

“It’s not clear to any of us what is going to happen next.” said Professor Nolan.

“If people have cut back on their level of social contact and mobility over the last week or fortnight, then we might expect case numbers to decline; if we haven’t then case numbers could remain stable or increase.”

Rethink that cuppa 

Dr Mai Mannix, Director of Public Health, HSE Mid-West explained how seemingly inconsequential household visits are causing big problems for the health service.

“It’s basically what happens when people visit each other for cups of tea, or a beer or even a chat and aren’t adhering to social distancing or wearing masks,” Dr Mannix said.

“Then subsequently one of the households brought it into their workplace where they caused an outbreak within the workplace of five cases and one of those subsequently brought it home, resulting in a family outbreak.”

Dr Mannix also urged the public to be wary of attending funerals and encouraged mourners to express their condolences over the phone.