NPHET warns against relaxing public health measures

Now is not the time for people to relax public health measures, health officials have warned.

The National Public Health Emergency Team noted a slight increase in the seven day average of Covid-19 cases in recent days and expressed concern that any further increase in mobility of people could make the situation worse.

Meanwhile Department of Health has been notified of ten further deaths associated with Covid-19 and an additional 646 cases this evening.

45 of the new cases are in Meath.

The death toll is now 4,518 and there have now been a total of 225,820 confirmed cases of Covid in the country.

Of today's cases, 243 are in Dublin, 80 in Kildare, 45 in Meath, 35 in Galway, 34 in Offaly with the remaining 209 cases are spread across 20 other counties.

The number of people in intensive care remains at 87 and 344 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised.

As of 9 March, 553,161 doses of the vaccine have been administered in Ireland with 396,089 people having received their first dose and 157,072 people their second dose.

Meanwhile the Navan electoral area has one of the highest 14 day incidence rates of the virus in the country.

There were 119 new cases in the Navan area in the fortnight to last Monday with an incidence rate of 341 per 100,000 more than twice the national average of 161 per 100,000.

Navan had the tenth highest rate out of 166 local electoral areas across the country.

The incidence rate in Ashbourne was 282 per 100,000, while the rate/in Kells was 194.4, Laytown\Bettystown 140.7, Ratoath, 210.1 and Trim 118.