ROI: Health minister warns against complacency in COVID-19 fight

By Aine McMahon PA

Health Minister Simon Harris has warned that allowing complacency to set in among the public in the fight against Covid-19 could be disastrous.

A further 39 people diagnosed with Covid-19 in the Republic died on Sunday.

There are now a total of 15,251 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Republic.

In a video message on Twitter on Sunday night, the minister said the progress made by the Irish people risks being undone if people become complacent.

Mr Harris warned progress made so far was "fragile".

He said: "There's an air of complacency creeping in in relation to Ireland's battle against Covid-19 and we have to push back against it.

"We're at a very delicate moment and it would not take much for that to be reversed.

"I'm hearing stories of people beginning to somewhat relax their interpretation of the phrase 'stay at home' or the 2km rule, and I really need to appeal to you not to do that.

"Do not allow complacency to set in. Do not allow us to say: 'Ah sure, we're going well in Ireland and I can let the foot off the pedal.' That would be disastrous. It could potentially be fatal."

Testing of staff and residents in nursing homes will continue this week as the focus remains on extinguishing and preventing outbreaks in long term residential care.

Testing of staff and residents in all nursing homes will continue this week, with some 4,000 tests carried out over the weekend.

Mr Harris will speak with his European counterparts by teleconference later on Monday to share updates on how efforts to tackle the virus are going across the European Union.