A further 25 people have died from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.

With 566 new cases reported across the country, 19 of which are in Cork, health experts are warning that, while case numbers are dropping slowly but consistently, community outbreaks are rife and more needs to be done to contain the virulent B117 variant of coronavirus.

“Through the hard work and sacrifice of the vast majority of people, key disease indicators continue on a positive trajectory,” said Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health.

“However, we are still seeing outbreaks in the community, including those linked to extended families, workplaces and funerals. We need to keep up our guard against the B117 variant of COVID-19, which we know is dominant in Ireland at present and highly transmissible.”

“Our willingness to stick with the public health advice in our daily routine has brought us the progress that we can see today,” added Dr Glynn.

Despite a small number of high profile incidents, our data shows that the case numbers in those aged 19-24 years continue on a downward trend.

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— Dr Ronan Glynn (@ronan_glynn) March 3, 2021

“Together, through staying at home as much as possible, social distancing, hand washing and wearing face coverings, we can continue to drive down the spread of Covid-19.”

Responding to media reports about young people gathering for parties on the streets this week, Dr Glynn said the headlines don’t represent the “thousands of young people who are working hard to minimise the spread” of coronavirus in their homes and communities.

“Despite a small number of high profile incidents, our data shows that the case numbers in those aged 19-24 years continue on a downward trend.” he added.