There have been 2,018 outbreaks of Covid-19 in private houses, with 122 new outbreaks reported in a week, according to new figures published today.
The total number of outbreaks reported is 2,878, according to the latest data is from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, up to midnight last Saturday.
It shows there were five outbreaks reported in pubs and five in a restaurant or cafe, with just two linked to hotels.
One outbreak has been reported in a childcare facility and the total number of workplace outbreaks is 85.
Workplace outbreaks have involved a variety of facilities, including food wholesalers/distribution centres, pizza delivery premises, factories, primary care centres and garda stations.
Of the 85 workplace outbreaks, 31 were in meat/poultry processing plants, five were in mushroom farms/facilities, while seven have been linked to a retail outlet.
The 85 workplace outbreaks have led to 1,877 laboratory confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 49 cases required hospitalisation.
There have been 279 outbreaks in nursing homes; 194 in a residential institution and 108 in hospitals.
In relation to vulnerable populations, there have been outbreaks in direct provision centres (292 cases); the Traveller community (101 cases); Roma community (69 cases); prisons (24 cases - this includes two confirmed cases among prisoners with the rest being staff cases from community transmission); homeless/those with addiction issues (20 cases).
There have been six deaths in these vulnerable groups.
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Meanwhile, the 14-day cumulative number of Covid-19 cases here for every 100,000 people has increased to 38.3, according to the latest data from the European Centre for Disease Control.
Yesterday, the ECDC figure for Ireland was at 33.8. Ireland is just ahead of the UK which is on 37.2.
The ECDC uses an estimate of the population of Ireland and so its 14-day cumulative figures can differ from the Department of Health figures.
There can also be a time lag in the reporting of cases by countries to the ECDC, and other reporting differences, which can also contribute to a variation in the daily figures and affect country comparisons.
Covid test positivity rate rises
The percentage of Covid-19 tests proving positive is increasing.
Last week the positivity rate was 1.3% and this has risen to 1.6% in the last seven days.
The latest official figures show that 68,462 tests have been conducted by the Health Service Executive, over the past seven days.
It compares with nearly 62,000 tests for the previous week.
In Northern Ireland, the latest figures from the Department of Health show that 49 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed following tests on 3,341 individuals.
It takes the total confirmed cases to 7,957. No further deaths were reported so the total number of deaths from Covid-19 remains at 557.
A total of 607 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last seven days in Northern Ireland, the Department of Health said.
Addressing the backlog in non-Covid healthcare
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has committed to ensuring there are sufficient resources to target health waiting lists caused by Covid-19.
Speaking in the Dáil, he told Aontú's Peadar Tóibín that the Health Service Executive had developed at draft plan to address the backlog of non-Covid care.
The Taoiseach said "resources will be provided to enable this to happen."
Mr Tóibín said that the shutdown in health service "is killing people." He added many people who are "cancer symptomatic" are "hitting a brick wall."
He said we have a bizarre situation where people can get a hair cut but cannot get a breast check examination.
Concerned over reopenings as cases rise
An Associate Professor in the School of Biochemistry and Immunology at Trinity College Dublin has said the policy of opening everything, schools, universities, colleges and pubs, during a month when cases are steadily increasing is concerning.
Dr Tomás Ryan said while he found yesterday's figure of 307 confirmed cases "a little bit shocking", people should not be alarmed by daily figures as "no one day can tell us that much".
It was the highest daily increase in cases reported since mid-May and brings the cumulative total number of cases in Ireland to 30,080 with 1,778 deaths.
The HPSC said 73% of the cases reported involve people under the age of 45 and 64% of cases are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case, while 72 cases have been identified as community transmission.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Dr Ryan said that while imposing local restrictions have been successful, they are a "reactive whack-a-mole mitigation strategy", which no one wants to be in.
With more than half of yesterday’s cases reported in Dublin, Dr Ryan said implementing a local lockdown in the capital would be very challenging given the amount of essential travel in and around the city.
'Inevitable' cases will rise when pubs reopen - Scally
Health expert Dr Gabriel Scally said it is "almost inevitable" that cases will increase when the pubs reopen.
He said while the age profile of Covid-19 cases is currently among young people, as cases grow it will spill over into older populations.
Dr Scally said in his view this is not the right time to reopen pubs, particularly if there is no solid test, trace and isolate system in place in every part of the country.
He said the case trend is upwards and believes restrictions should not be relaxed, but the other option is to experiment with the opening of the pubs and see what happens.
Yesterday, Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn urged people not to let their guard down and "assume that you or those that you meet may be infectious and act accordingly".
Health Service Executive Chief Clinical Officer Dr Colm Henry said there is great uncertainty about the coming months, and it will be "a case in some areas, in some counties, of two steps forward and one step back."
The World Health Organization says data to date suggests 80% of Covid-19 infections are mild or asymptomatic, 15% are severe infection, requiring oxygen and 5% are critical, requiring ventilation.
Generally, you need to be 15 minutes or more in the vicinity of an infected person and within two metres of them, to be considered at-risk, or a close contact.
Additional reporting Fergal Bowers
