The Department of Public Health has tonight urged people in one of the country’s worst hit regions for cases of Covid-19, where gardai are investigating alleged breaches of public health guidelines over Christmas, to “avoid large social gatherings of any kind for New Year’s celebrations“ in order to curb the spread of the virus. There have been 800 positive Coronavirus cases in Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary combined over the past two weeks, the Dept of Health Mid West said. A department spokesman said there was “a growing concern over the impact of Christmas celebrations on the spread of Covid-19 in the community“. According to the department spokesman, the “vast majority” of the 800 cases in the region over the past 14 days were “recorded in Limerick”. A Department spokesman appealed to the public “to answer phone calls from contact tracers, who are making every effort to track the spread of Covid-19”.

Source: Irish Independent December 29, 2020 20:48 UTC