1,296 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Republic of Ireland and 6 more patients with the virus have died.
It's the largest-ever daily tally by officials at the Department of Health.
The Chief Medical Officer says we have now returned to the very high levels of COVID-19 circulating in the community that we haven't seen since the peak of Wave Two of this disease.
Dr Tony Holohan, has described the situation as very concerning.
“For the second day in a row we are reporting more than a thousand confirmed cases of COVID-19. Within a few short weeks of easing measures at the beginning of December, we have now returned to the very high levels of COVID-19 circulating in the community that we have not seen since the peak of Wave Two of this disease. This is very concerning.”
“While today is a positive day with the arrival of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine (Comirnaty), it does not mean that we can relax our adherence to public health measures.”
“We must continue to stay at home, avoid social contact where possible, avoid visiting friends and family and not have visitors to our homes. Our adherence to public health advice will remain our best defence against this disease and help us protect our vulnerable loved ones from the effects of COVID-19.”
Statement from the National Public Health Emergency Team:
The @hpscireland has today been notified of 6 additional deaths related to COVID-19.
There has been a total of 2,200 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.#COVID19
— Department of Health (@roinnslainte) December 26, 2020
There is now a total of 85,394 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Republic of Ireland.
Just under 1000 new cases confirmed in Northern Ireland
Meanwhile, 998 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the North.
There have also been 20 further deaths confirmed by the Department of Health there.
It comes as non-essential shops, pubs and restaurants in Northern Ireland have shut for six weeks, from today.
