Case numbers are rising.

A further 200 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Ireland today, with the situation now deemed ‘deeply concerning’ by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET).

While there have been no further deaths from the disease in the past 24 hours, this is the largest number of cases in a single day since the beginning of May. The latest figure brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Ireland to 27,191.

Of the new cases reported this evening, 103 of the people who tested positive are men and 96 are women. 68% of the confirmed cases are aged under 45 years of age.

‘This is deeply concerning’

“We now have multiple clusters with the secondary spread of disease and rising numbers of cases in many parts of the country,” said Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn.

“This is deeply concerning. NPHET will monitor this extremely closely over the coming days.”

Of the 200 new cases notified to the Department of Health, 81 are based in Kildare, 56 are in Dublin, 13 are in Tipperary and eight are in Limerick. A further six patients are in Laois, six in Galway, five in Kilkenny and five are in Meath. The remaining 20 cases are in Cork, Carlow, Clare, Donegal, Louth, Mayo, Offaly, Roscommon, Waterford and Wicklow.

As of midnight Friday 14th August, the @hpscireland has been notified of 200 confirmed cases of #COVID19.

There is now a total of 27,191 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in Ireland. Validation of data led to the denotification of 4 cases.

— Department of Health (@roinnslainte) August 15, 2020

“This virus is still out there and has not gone away. COVID-19 seeks to capitalise on complacency and is just waiting for the opportunity to spread.”

“I am asking everyone, especially those who are over 70 or medically vulnerable, to limit your contacts, keep your distance from other people and take extra care to heed public health advice.”