THERE HAVE BEEN 196 new cases of Covid-19 identified in Ireland, according to health officials on Thursday evening.
They also confirmed that no further deaths associated with the virus have been reported.
It brings the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 30,360 since the outbreak began.
Ireland's death toll meanwhile stands at 1,781.
The Department of Health confirmed that 107 of the new cases were in Dublin, 12 in Waterford, 11 in Limerick, eight in Wicklow, seven in Meath and seven in Kildare.
The remaining 44 cases are spread around Laois, Westmeath, Cavan, Donegal, Clare, Galway, Kilkenny, Leitrim, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Tipperary and Wexford.
61% of the latest cases are believed to be people under the age of 45, while community transmission was deemed to have been responsible for 37 of the cases.
"Today we have at least 37 cases linked with community transmission," said Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn in a statement yesterday.
"27 of today's cases are over the age of 65 years. By limiting our contacts, we limit the opportunity Covid-19 has to spread through the community and ultimately we protect our families, our communities and those who are most vulnerable to the severest impacts of the disease."
