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Coronavirus: Two further deaths and 23 new cases as Ireland begins to see effect of Phase 3 re-opening

There have been a further two deaths from Coronavirus and 23 new cases in Ireland, according to figures released by health officials this evening.

The two new deaths bring to 1,746 the total number of Coronavirus-related deaths in the country while there are now 25,611 confirmed cases. The 23 new cases announced today is the the third day in a row that they have been in excess of 20.

Dr Cillian De Gascun, the Director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory (NVRL), said today that it is “concerning” to see daily figures of 20+ new cases in recent days.

Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Saturday with Cormac Ó hEadhra, de Gascun said this increase in cases was “to be expected” after the country reopened much more than in previous phases.

“The incubation period for this virus is up to 14 days, we’re now sort of 12 days on from June 29 and really we’re starting to see the effects of that reopening,” he said.

“We have seen a couple of numbers in the 20s over the past few days, that is concerning.

“We expected to see more cases as things open up, that was kind of to be expected, but equally you don’t want to see them up to that high level.

“To take people back to March and just to highlight how important this is, we started the process of implementing restrictions in March because we had 27 cases. We’re now at 25,” de Gascun said.

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