23 further deaths, 211 new cases of coronavirus in Ireland

A FURTHER 23 people in Ireland have died after contracting coronavirus.

The Department of Health yesterday confirmed that a further 23 people have sadly died as of 5.30pm Tuesday, 5 May, bringing Ireland's total of coronavirus-related deaths to 1,339.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre have, however, announced the de-notification of three earlier reported deaths-- the figure of 1,339 reflects this.

The HSPC have also reported an additional 211 newly confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Republic of Ireland, bringing the country's total to 21,938.

As always, the HSE is working rapidly to trace and close contacts the newly confirmed cases may have had, in order to advise them and further slow the spread of the virus.

The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) yesterday held a meeting in order to continue to review Ireland's response to Covid-19.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, at a speech on Friday, said that Ireland had successfully flattened the curve but confirmed lockdown measures would remain in place until at least 18 May before a phased reopening of the country began.

Lockdown measures to remain in place until 18 May - Leo Varadkar

Speaking at yesterday's press briefing, Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer for the Department of Health, explained some of the reasoning behind Mr Varadkar's decision.

He said:

"As Ireland works to ease restrictions, it is crucial that we preserve the progress our country has made in recent weeks.

“This is a highly infectious disease. It thrives in crowds. It has the potential to rapidly spread to levels that our health service will find difficult to respond to.

“While we plan how to safely emerge from recent restrictions, none of us should forget that the virus is still in our community. Those who get infected have the same risk of serious illness as they did at the beginning of this pandemic.”

See More: Coronavirus, Covid-19