The latest Covid figures have been released.
18 new Covid-related deaths have been confirmed, as well as 269 new cases.
15 of these deaths occurred in November, while one of them was in October. The other two remain under investigation.
73 of today’s cases are in Dublin, 20 are in Kilkenny, 20 are in Limerick, 19 are in Louth and 19 are in Tipperary.
The remainder are spread across 20 counties.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there are 224 people in hospitals across the country with Covid, with 31 of them in the ICU.
Speaking on Tuesday evening, CMO Tony Holohan said: “The hard work and sacrifices that have been made by people over the last 6 weeks to suppress Covid means we are now in a position to reopen non-essential retail and to travel within our counties.”
He urged people not to have household visits outside of necessary visitors in a support bubble until 18 of December.
It also emerged today that University Hospital Waterford is currently in the midst of an “outbreak” after the hospital confirmed its first case of hospital-acquired Covid.
Earlier on Tuesday, a further 391 individuals have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.
Sadly, a further 15 deaths have also been reported up north, though eight of the deaths were outside the past 24 hours.
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