Covid-19: 365 new cases of coronavirus reported by the Department of Health

The Department of Health has reported 365 confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday evening.

Of the new cases, 41 are in ICU and 103 in hospital.

Daily case numbers may change due to future data review, validation and update, the Department of Health has stated.

Meanwhile, a further 75 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Northern Ireland on Tuesday, according to the North’s Department of Health. There were no further deaths.

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A total of 29 people with Covid-19 were receiving hospital treatment in Northern Ireland on Tuesday, with two in intensive care.

Separately, the EU's digital green pass, which it is hoped will open up travel throughout the bloc, is expected to be operated in Ireland from the middle of July, according to people involved in discussions in Government

EU leaders are expected to approve the plan, which will become operational from July 1st, at the ongoing summit in Brussels, but member states will have six weeks to implement it.

Ireland is likely to commence the scheme in mid-July, meaning that tourists bearing the pass – which attests that the holder has either been vaccinated, has a negative test for Covid or has had the virus in the last six months – will be able to enter the country without quarantining.

Sources said that challenges presented by Ireland’s high usage rate of private tests were being worked on, but there was also considerable caution from public health experts about an early reopening.

The Government will retain the authority to control the conditions for entry, and will monitor the containment of the virus and the rate of vaccination before the scheme is commenced.

The European Commission will have a system allowing member states to verify each other’s documents in place next month, but individual countries have to prepare their own structures to issue the certificates, free, to their residents.

Once the Commission has its system for EU-wide verification ready member states will begin connecting to it. The commission does not say at what point exactly, after that, certificates will issue.

The certificates feature a public key, that holds no personal data, but confirms that the holder is vaccinated, immune or tested negative. States hold these on national directories, which are exchanged through the commission’s system, so they can verify each other’s certs.