BREAKING: Another big increase in daily Covid cases confirmed
By David Hurley
Published 17th Jul 2021, 17:48 GMT
THE Department of Health has confirmed that almost 1,400 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported to the Health Protection Surveillence Centre.
It says a total of 1,377 new cases were reported in the 24 hours up to midnight on Friday - the highest daily figure since the middle of January.
As it's the weekend, a county-by-county breakdown, is not available.
However, in a post on social media, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ronan Glynn, said the five-day average of cases is now the highest since the middle of February.
The 14-day incidence rate nationally is now 205 (per 100,000 population).
As of 8am this Saturday, there were 78 Covid-19 patients in hospital of which 22 were in ICU.