The Chief Medical Officer is appealing to people with foreign holidays planned, to cancel them.
The National Public Health Emergency Team is noticing a “worrying trend” of Covid-19 cases increasing, and new clusters emerging.
Last week there was a need to test over 20 people as close contacts of individual cases, one of the clusters was located in the north west and was linked with travel to Iraq.
Dr Tony Holohan wants people, who have foreign holidays planned, to reconsider:
“We would like people not to travel, some people would have made bookings and it makes much more sense not to go ahead with that booking, and to risk travelling abroad picking up this infection”.
He added “The risk to you, and any family members travelling with you or indeed any close contacts you have when you come back, the risk that it represents to us as community and a society I think is not just in your individual interest but in our collective interest”.