LATEST: Kilkenny among 429 new cases of virus, concern as infection rates rise again
Another person has died after contracting the coronavirus as 429 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed this evening.
It brings the overall death toll as a result of the virus to 2,124. There has been now been 76,185 confirmed cases of Covid-19 across the country, according to the latest daily briefing from the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET).
The breakdown of the latest cases is as follow: 122 are in Dublin, 46 in Donegal, 30 in Limerick, 22 in Laois, 20 in Cork with the remaining 189 cases spread across all other counties, including 18 new infections in Kilkenny.
Commenting on the latest figures, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said: “I am concerned that we are seeing the incidence of Covid-19 rising again. 429 is a large number of cases by the standard of recent weeks and the five day moving average has now increased above 300 per day.
“Our efforts in Level 5 in recent weeks brought the 14-day incidence rate down to 78 per 100,000 population, put us in a position of having the lowest disease incidence in Europe and ultimately protected many people and saved many lives.
“Take today’s figures as a sign that we all must now reduce our social contacts, limit our interactions with those outside our households, weigh the risks of what socialising we are planning over the next two weeks, so that we can all have as safe a Christmas as possible.”
PHOTO: Stock image
