A further three people diagnosed with Covid-19 have died, while another 34 cases of the virus have been reported, the National Public Health and Emergency Team (NPHET) has said.
Friday’s figures mean there has now been a total of 1,752 coronavirus related deaths in Ireland, and a total of 25,730 confirmed cases.
Dr Ronan Glynn, acting chief medical officer at the Department of Health, reiterated that Covid-19 was "extremely infectious".
It was a tough decision - but the right one - to announce we wouldn’t be moving to Phase 4 this week. Particularly hard for those who work in pubs. I want you to know that we have a plan to help more businesses to reopen when it’s safe to do so. pic.twitter.com/LJcQ4iIqiU
— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) July 17, 2020
“It wants to spread, but it needs people to come into contact with each other to do so,” he said.
“All of the measures that we have been talking about for many months now are so important; physical distancing, hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette, wearing a face covering where appropriate, avoiding large crowds — are all actions each of us can take to cut the chains of transmission and stop this virus in its tracks.”
Dr Glynn added that it “now depends on the actions we take as individuals as to whether this virus gets an opportunity to spread through our communities”.
“ Continue to follow the public health advice, know the risks, know the symptoms and stay safe”.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said he knew people were disappointed they would have to wait longer for their “freedom pints” but that the decision to keep pubs and nightclubs closed was made “for good reasons”.
On Wednesday, the Government announced that the country would not yet be progressing to phase four of the roadmap to reopening society following the coronavirus pandemic.
That decision means, among other things, that pubs, bars and nightclubs are not allowed to reopen until at least August 10th. They were originally due to reopen on Monday, July 20th.
Speaking in a video on Twitter on Friday evening, Mr Varadkar said he understood that people were “really disappointed” by this decision.
“I know this is particularly tough on people who own businesses working in that sector and very tough on people who work in that sector and just everyone else who was looking forward to a night out and those freedom pints at long last,” he said.
“We’re going to have to wait a little bit longer but that decision is made for good reasons - reasons of public health - to keep the virus under control and to make sure we can do things like reopen schools at the end of August.”
Earlier, Free Now, an e-hailing taxi company, has called for the new regulations on wearing face masks on public transport to be extended to taxis.
Alan Fox, regional general manager of the company, said taxi drivers and passengers continue to face uncertainty in terms of what is the best approach to safe travel.
“The new public transport regulations fail to specifically state whether face masks are mandatory in taxis,” he said.
The company “ strongly believes they should be in keeping with public health guidelines and we are firmly advising drivers and passengers to wear face masks”, Mr Fox said.
Northern Ireland
Meanwhile, the number of Covid-19 deaths continues to fall in the North, according to the latest figures from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra).
In the week up to July 10th Nisra said that coronavirus was mentioned on the death certificates of nine people in Northern Ireland.
This is two fewer than the previous week and marks the 10th week that Covid-19 deaths in the North have fallen.
Nisra reported that there were just three deaths linked to coronavirus in the week ending July 10th, the lowest since March. While there were six additional Covid-19-related deaths recorded in that week they would have occurred prior to that week.
It brings the total number of virus-related deaths recorded by the North’s statistics agency up to last Friday, July 10th, to 844.
Up to the same date the North’s department of health in its statistics recorded 555 Covid-19 deaths.
The departmental figures are based on patients having previously tested positive for the virus, whereas the Nisra figures are based on the information entered on death certificates, completed by medical professionals. They may or may not have previously tested positive for the virus.
Of the 844 deaths total, 440 (52.1 per cent) took place in hospital, 347 (41.1 per cent) in care homes, eight (0.9 per cent) in hospices and 49 (5.8 per cent) at residential addresses or other locations.
The 355 deaths which occurred in care homes and hospices involved 81 separate establishments.
Care home-related deaths account for just more than half of coronavirus fatalities in Northern Ireland, according to the Nisra figures. On further analysis it found that while 347 people died in care homes an additional 79 care home residents died in hospital, bringing the total number of care home-related deaths to 426.
“On this basis, deaths of care home residents account for 50.5 per cent of all Covid-19 related deaths. However, no assumptions can be made in relation to where or when the deceased contracted the disease,” said Nisra.
Nisra added that over the last 15 weeks in total, 1,021 “excess deaths” (deaths above the average for the corresponding period in previous years) were registered in Northern Ireland, with the number of “excess deaths” in the year to July 10th totalling 762.
Persons aged 75 and over accounted for two-thirds (65.6 per cent) of all deaths and 79.9 per cent of Covid 19 related deaths registered this calendar year up to July 10th.
The North’s health department again reported no new coronavirus deaths in its daily bulletin issued on Friday afternoon, leaving its death total, which mainly relates to hospital fatalities, at 556.
The department also reported 19 new confirmed cases of the virus, taking the total to 5,834. So far 125,446 people have been tested in Northern Ireland for Covid-19.
