Three of the new cases are in intensive care.
There are now 70 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland following the latest update from the Department of Health on Thursday evening, 12 March.
27 new cases were confirmed on Thursday. Of those, 22 are associated with local transmission, three are associated with travel and two are associated with community transmission.
Three of the new cases are presently in intensive care, bringing that total to six.
Combined with Northern Ireland’s current disclosed total of 20 cases, there are now 90 overall cases on the island of Ireland.
The first death from coronavirus in Ireland was recorded on Wednesday, an elderly woman in the east of the country.
The patient died in a hospital where she was being treated, having initially presented with respiratory problems before a diagnosis of Covid-19 was confirmed.
Measures announced by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to combat the spread of coronavirus in Ireland including closures of schools, colleges and public facilities are now in effect.
Speaking on Thursday morning, Minister for Health Simon Harris said that the country has moved to the delay phase of the response to Covid-19.
The key aim of this phase is to stop the Irish health service being overwhelmed by a huge number of cases at once. This doesn’t mean that fewer people will contract the virus, but the aim is to spread these cases over a longer period of time so that the health service is able to cope with the number of cases.
The delay phase will see much of the same advice given out to the public, such as encouraging the washing of hands regularly, but there will also be an increased emphasis on social distancing, such as cancelling planned mass gatherings and working from home if possible.
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