2 new Coronavirus cases confirmed in the Republic of Ireland this evening bringing the number to 21
Two more cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed, bringing the total number in the Republic of Ireland to 21.
The new cases involve a male in a hospital in the south of the country and a female in the east of the country.
Both cases were community transmissions and not involving people who returned recently from at-risk areas.
There has also been a major increase in Covid-19 testing with over 1,000 cases tested so far.
Earlier, the Health Service Executive said that it cannot dispute projections that 1.9 million people in the Republic of Ireland may fall ill with coronavirus.
But it said that the modelling scenario is not completed yet.
The vast majority of Covid-19 cases are mild and people make a full recovery. The risk of catching coronavirus in Ireland is still low to moderate, according to the HSE.
It comes after health officials said that the trends in Italy point towards large numbers of cases.
As first revealed by the Business Post, senior health officials believe up to 1.9 million people in Ireland could be infected and become sick.
Around 80% of cases of Covid-19 are a mild to moderate illness, close to 14% have severe disease and around 6% are critical. The latest data from the World Health Organization is that Covid-19 has an estimated global mortality rate of 3.4%.
Generally, you need to be 15 minutes or more in the vicinity of an infected person, within 1-2 metres, to be considered at-risk or a close contact.
175 healthcare staff from two hospitals are now in self-isolation.
The head of the HSE said that the Covid-19 is having a very significant impact, but he said the safety of health care workers, staff and patients is "at the top of everything we do".
Paul Reid said that 100 healthcare workers from Cork University Hospital and a further 75 staff from University Hospital Limerick are involved.
He said the HSE is "taking the appropriate actions that are clinically advised in terms of how and when we can return staff to work quicker and equally how we can regularly medically assess staff in our hospitals".
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