Nine more cases of the variant form of Covid-19, which was first identified in the south east of England, have been detected in Ireland.
The Director of the UCD National Virus Reference Laboratory said on Twitter that further testing this week of SARSCoV2 samples from 23 to 29 December detected the additional cases, bringing to 16 the total number of cases identified.
Dr Cillian de Gascun said that while the sample set is small, it appears that the variant form of the virus is not responsible for the "recent significant & concerning increase" in case numbers.
Yesterday, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan warned that the health system will not cope with the impact of the rise in cases, with at least 9,000 new cases set to be reported in