Coronavirus: Three more deaths, six new cases confirmed in Republic

Three more people have died of Covid-19, bringing the total number of deaths from the pandemic in the Republic to 1,738, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre has said.

Furthermore, the HPSC has been notified of six more confirmed cases of Covid-19. There are now a total of 25,477 confirmed cases in the Republic.

Meanwhile, no further coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the North's Department of Health on Wednesday. The total number of fatalities recorded by the department in Northern Ireland remains at 551.

One new case of Covid-19 was confirmed, bringing the total number of cases to 5,761.

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The HSE said it is working to identify any contacts the patients may have had in order to provide them with information and advice so as to prevent further spread.

Dr Tony Holohan, chief medical officer at the Department of Health, said the National Public Health Emergency Team "continues to advise against all non-essential travel".

“The World Health Organisation has warned that the global pandemic is accelerating,” he said. “In the past week, over 160,000 cases have been reported each day.

“The National Public Health Emergency Team will meet again tomorrow as it continues to monitor the spread of Covid-19 nationally and internationally, and review Ireland’s response and preparedness to the disease.”

Links to travel

Dr Ronan Glynn, deputy chief medical officer at the Department of Health, said a total of 31 cases of Covid-19 in Ireland during the month of June were associated with travel.

“The balance of keeping the disease suppressed in Ireland will continue to be challenging as society and business reopens,” he added.

Meanwhile, the National Transport Authority has said there is up to 90 per cent compliance in relation to the mandatory wearing of face masks on public transport.

The Government last week announced that as part of phase three of the plan to reopen Irish society, capacity on buses, trains, and trams was to increase from 20 per cent to about 50 per cent from last Monday.

On Bus Éireann commuter services in the Greater Dublin Area, compliance is running between 75 per cent on some services and 98 per cent on others.

Compliance ‘increasing significantly’

Three in four passengers on Bus Éireann city services in Cork and Waterford are wearing face coverings, and while the rate in Limerick and Galway is lower, at 40 per cent, it is “increasing significantly day-on-day”.

In rural areas, more than 90 per cent of passengers on Local Link services in places such as Donegal, Laois/Offaly, Waterford and Longford/Westmeath/Roscommon are wearing face coverings.

Iarnród Éireann has reported that 60 per cent of passengers arriving and departing from Heuston Station are using face coverings, a significant increase on previous weeks.

Dublin Bus has also seen an increase in passengers following the face mask rule, with 52 per cent of customers covering their faces as of today, up from 41 per cent on Monday, and with some routes seeing 70 per cent of customers wearing face coverings.

On the Luas, morning and evening peak hour trams saw the majority of customers wearing face coverings, with the numbers lower in the evening hours.