One more death and just eight new cases of virus, outbreaks in private houses treble in one week

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

It brings the overall death toll as a result of the virus here to 1,706. There are now 25,303 confirmed cases of Covid-19 across the country, according to the latest daily briefing from the National Public Health Emergency team (NPHET).

Meanwhile, separate figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) show the number of outbreaks of coronavirus in private houses has more than trebled in the space of a week.

By last Thursday there were 240 clusters of Covid-19 in private houses, compared to the 251 clusters recorded in nursing homes across the country.

The worrying increase has prompted the HPSC to resume counting outbreaks in private houses as a separate category.

The previous week it recorded 266 outbreaks in “other” locations, which included private houses, community, pubs, hotels and shops. By Thursday, there were 240 clusters in private houses and another 80 in the “other” category.

Public health officials warned last week the virus was moving into household settings, although the overall number of cases continues to drop.