Four more people have died and 859 new cases of Covid 19 have been confirmed in Ireland.
Slightly more men than woman are among the latest infected with the virus. 62% of them are aged under 45 years with the mean being 35.
There are 192 new infections in Dublin, 148 in Cork, 58 in Donegal, 55 in Galway, 54 in Meath, with the rest spread across 21 counties.
23 are in Carlow while 14 are in Kilkenny, bringing to 466 and 692 respectively, the positive results to date in each county.
315 covid-19 patients are in hospital of which 37 are in ICU, with 16 more hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
Cavan still has the highest 14 day incident rate, with 981 per 100 thousand population, compared to 302 per 100 thousand for the whole country. Kilkenny’s still one of three counties with the lowest rate, at 180.4, but Carlow’s has risen to 270.5.
It comes as the Taoiseach says the Government’s strategy for dealing with Covid-19 is the one tenable solution of three.
Micheal Martin’s told the McGill Summer School today a herd immunity plan is not credible.
He says it would lead to a higher number of deaths and illness and added that Zero Covid isn’t a possibility for him either.
At the same event vaccinologist, Professor Adrian Hill from Oxford University said governments worldwide have only started to take viruses seriously since the Ebola outbreak.
Professor Hill also said we need to make and stockpile vaccines to prepare for future pandemics and he predicted a safe and effective vaccine for the virus will be found by the end of the year.
Elsewhere ..
923 new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the North in the last 24 hours.
There has also been six additional deaths reported by the Department of Health there.
Another 23,012 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, that’s around 2,500 more than yesterday.
A further 174 people have died within 28 days of being told they had Covid-19.
Meanwhile, the organiser of a party in Manchester, which more than 50 people went to, has been fined £10,000 in England for breaching coronavirus restrictions.
Police found DJ mixing decks, industrial speakers and a buffet at a flat in Angel Meadows last night.
The Greater Manchester force has handed out 52 penalties since the region went into Tier 3 measures yesterday.
And in Wales thousands of people have signed a petition after supermarkets were banned from selling non-essential items during the 17 day firebreak lockdown.
Toys and electrical goods are among products which have been cordoned off in some stores.
The Welsh first minister says it’s fair as non-essential retailers have to close.
Restaurants, pubs and hairdressers have also shut.
