Coronavirus: No New Deaths, 17 Further Cases

There have been no new COVID-19 deaths reported in Ireland.

While 17 further cases have been confirmed - giving a total of 25,628 confirmed cases and 1,746 deaths here.

The HSE says it's working to identify any contacts the patients may have had to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread.

Dr Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, said: "This virus is still out there. It is still in people.

"It only needs the smallest window of opportunity to become a major problem once again.

"Please continue to protect yourself and others - watch out for symptoms, wash your hands and wear a face covering where appropriate.

"If you have any concern about symptoms, do not delay – isolate yourself and contact your GP immediately."

A mobile phone showing the Covid 19 Tracker App. Picture by: Leah Farrell/Rollingnews.ie

It comes as The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that the fight against the coronavirus is still 'in the trenches'.

Dr Margaret Harris, a spokesperson for the WHO, said: "We are definitely in the trenches, in the trenches of a fight for our lives.

"We have seen a doubling of cases in the last six weeks - and by doubling, that's from a little over six million to well over 12 million.

"I mean we are going to reach 13 million cases very soon.

"But there is some good news: a lot of countries have managed to bring down the death rates, and that is really down to the fantastic work by the health staff who've begun to really understand what this virus does in the body, and to identify the people who are going to get sicker and to put in that extraordinary work to save them.

"But they are getting exhausted, we all really need to find ways to support them, to bring up the numbers in the health service - let people have a break".

Asked about the prospect of a vaccine, Dr Harris said: "We've got over 100 candidate vaccines, and we've got around 10 - if I recall correctly - that are in the second and third stages of human trials and that has never happened in the history of human health and science before.

"But that stage, the human trial stage, is necessarily slower because you have to ensure not just that it works, but that it works safely.

"Even if we saw a vaccine that we had some clear evidence was working, still the next stage is production, roll-out, working out where it can be used first effectively.

"All those things again are slower steps".