Coronavirus: Four new cases linked to foreign travel reported last week

Four new Covid-19 cases linked to foreign travel were reported in the week up to last Saturday, new figures show.

However, the number of travel-related cases reported on Monday jumped to six, National Public Health Emergency Team officials told a briefing that day.

Officials say they are gravely concerned about the rise in travel-related cases and have urged against any relaxation of restrictions on overseas travel.

There have been a total of 592 travel-related cases over the course of the pandemic, according to the HSE’s latest epidemiological report, most of them occurring in the early stages.

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One new death of a patient with Covid-19 was reported by the National Public Health Emergency Team on Tuesday. This brings the total number of deaths linked to the disease at 1,736

NPHET also reported another 11 new confirmed cases of the disease, bringing the total number of cases to 25,473.

Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan noted that Tuesday marked six months since the World Health Organisation first received reports of what is now known as Covid-19. Since then, there have been 10 million cases and 500,000 deaths reported worldwide.

“We know more about this virus and how to limit its spread than we did six months ago. It is very important that we keep up the national effort to reduce the impact of this disease in our country.”

Up to Monday, 429,698 tests have been carried out for the disease in Ireland, including 24,607 tests over the past week. Some 116 tests were positive, giving a positivity rate of 0.5 per cent, official said.

Eleven counties recorded no new confirmed cases last week, and just one additional case was reported in Cork, according to the HSE’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre. The biggest increase was in Wicklow, where 26 cases were notified, followed by Dublin, with an increase of 22.

The number of Covid-19 clusters reported in private houses jumped from 358 to 728 in the space of a week, according to the report, though a note says most of the additional clusters just reported actually occurred earlier in the pandemic.

The reports says 221 clusters remain open, while 1,208 are regarded as closed because two weeks have elapsed since the last case cleared.

There remain 60 open clusters in private homes, 58 in nursing homes and 27 in hospitals.

Deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn urged people to risk assess their own environment so to inform their personal decisions and actions during the pandemic.

“We know how this virus spreads, we know the public health behaviours required to protect ourselves and others, we must continue to be aware of the disease and limit its spread.”

Meanwhile there were no further coronavirus linked deaths reported in Northern Ireland, with the toll recorded by the Department of Health remaining at 551.

There were three new cases of the virus confirmed in the North bringing the total to 5,760.