We are not out of the woods yet.

Health officials have issued a stark warning to the Irish public ahead of St Patrick’s Day as coronavirus case numbers spike across Europe.

Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi has plunged the country into another lockdown in light of a “new wave of contagion,” while Germany. Hungary and France are also dealing with surges that threaten their vaccination programmes.

In Ireland, a further 575 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in the past 24 hours, 22 in Cork, with no new deaths from the virus.

“While there has been a very understandable focus on the vaccine programme over recent days, we must not lose sight of the danger that Covid-19 continues to pose.” said Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health.

“While, in time, vaccines will have a very significant positive impact on Covid-19, they will not stop a further wave of disease over the coming weeks. We are seeing this play out across Europe with many countries now experiencing pressure on their hospital and critical care capacities. We must not let this happen here.”

‘It’s just too risky’

Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group agreed, highlighting an increase in mobility this week as more children return to school.

“Now is not the time to be socialising, it’s just too risky.” he said.

“We must do all we can to continue to suppress this virus and to ensure that as many people as possible get to benefit from vaccination over the coming months. Each of us knows the range of tried and trusted tools at our disposal.

“If we continue to keep our distance, wash our hands, wear face masks and stay at home we will continue to drive down transmission of this disease.”