LATEST: One further death and 506 new cases of virus as health experts call for tougher restrictions

One more person has died after contracting the coronavirus related deaths as 506 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed this evening.

The overall death toll as a result of the virus now stands at 1,817. There are now 40,086 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 follows: 91 are in Dublin, 76 in Cork, 53 in Donegal, 42 in Meath with the remaining 244 cases are located across 21 other counties.

The latest cases were confirmed amid calls from health experts for even greater controls and restrictions to combat the increasing spread of the virus.

Despite the entire country now being under Level 3 lockdown, infectious diseases consultant Sam McConkey today said the current measures are not enough to keep Covid under control.

Prof McConkey said: “My view is we do need to take increased restrictions, what we’ve been doing in Dublin for the last three weeks and for the rest of the country for the last few days has not been adequate to keep the increase in coronavirus in Ireland under control.”

His comments come after the Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan yesterday said he is more concerned about how Covid-19 is spreading now than he was when NPHET controversially recommended to Government that the country be moved to Level 5 restrictions.