BREAKING: New Covid-19 cases revealed in Limerick as CMO issues warning ahead of re-opening

A FURTHER 20 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Limerick overnight, with the city and county recording the fourth highest daily rise nationally.

It comes three days before many parts of retail open for the first time in 2021, and has caused chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan to issue a warning to business owners, customers and staff to continue to "take great care" and only return to the workplace if necessary.

According to information released this afternoon from the Department of Health, Limerick's 14-day incidence rate has dropped marginally day-on-day, from 125.2 yesterday to 124.2 per 100,000 people today.

There were 13 new cases yesterday, with 20 new today. All this means across the last fortnight in Limerick, 242 new cases of coronavirus have been recorded.

Nationally, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) has been notified of four additional deaths related to Covid-19.

In total, there has been 4,918 Covid-19 related deaths across the country since the onset of the pandemic.

As of midnight, the HPSC has been informed of 434 confirmed cases of Covid-19, meaning there's now a total of 251,904 confirmed cases across the State.

Of today's new cases, 212 are men and 212 are women, with 80% of people under the age of 45.

The average age is 31 years.

The majority of new cases - 197 - are in Dublin, with 44 in Cork, 34 in Kildare, and 20 each in Limerick and Meath.

The remaining 119 cases are spread across 16 other counties including in Clare, Kerry and Tipperary. Less than five new cases have been recorded in each county.

As of 8am today, 126 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 34 are in intensive care. There has been 15 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

As of Wednesday May 5, some 1,700,538 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland:

Some 1,233,067 people have received their first dose, with 467,471 people having their second jab.

Dr Holohan said: "Next week we will see many more business open which means employees and customers will return to work and our economy will begin to restart in earnest. This is a very positive sign and a testament to the hard work of the vast majority in supressing incidence of disease in our communities."

"It is extremely important that business owners, employees and customers take great care and review safety protocols and practices and ensure to consider all the actions we can all take as individuals to protect ourselves and our loved ones. Only return to the workplace if it is necessary to do so. Continue to wear a mask, practice social distancing, good hand hygiene and cough etiquette. If you feel unsafe in a crowded environment feel empowered to turn around and go home," he said.

The chief medical officer urged business owners and employers that they have a duty of care to their staff.

"Reopening responsibly will help to mitigate the risk of Covid-19 spreading amongst your staff in the workplace and ensure we all have the opportunity to enjoy the new social and economic activities available to us from May 10.”

Dr Ray Walley, general practitioner added: "General practices are extremely busy at the moment dealing with Covid and non-COVID care as well as continuing to administer Covid-19 vaccines. GPs continue to administer Covid-19 vaccines as per the National Vaccination Programme, this means that those aged 70 and over and those that are clinically vulnerable between the ages of 50 – 59 are eligible to receive a vaccine from their GP."

“I would encourage anyone who has been called to register for their vaccine to do so on the HSE portal," he said.