IRELAND HAS reported a record 16 days in a row with no new coronavirus deaths.
The positive news comes as the Government prepares to open up the country's economy further, with draft guidelines being released for pubs ahead of their reopening-- which could come as soon as later this month.
The news of no new deaths is positive, with just one death being recorded in the past 16 days and that one relating to a death in July-- however the number of new cases recorded daily continues to rise.
Yesterday, the National Public Health Emergency Team confirmed there had been a further 138 cases of the virus identified within the community, bringing Ireland's total to 29,672.
Of those cases, 59 are men and 79 are women and 67% are under the age of 45.
The younger age groups which are contracting the virus is believed to be an important contributory factor into why cases continue to rise but deaths and hospitalisations remain low.
People living in Dublin have been asked to restrict the number of close contacts as the number of cases rise significantly in the area.
A breakdown in yesterday's figures shows that 68 were in Dublin, 13 in Limerick, 9 in Galway, 9 in Kildare, 5 in Cork, 5 in Wexford, 5 in Wicklow, and the remaining 24 cases in Carlow, Clare, Donegal, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Meath, Offaly, Roscommon, Tipperary, Waterford, and Westmeath.
