Health officials have warned that the high number of young people among the country’s new cases of COVID-19 marks a “worrying trend.”

Nearly half of the 23 cases confirmed yesterday were in people under the age of 35. Meanwhile eight were between 35 and 54.

There were also six further deaths, bringing the death toll in Republic to 1,734.

In a statement last night, the Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said the number of young people testing positive is “now a real concern and a worrying trend.”

He also warned that some of the newly confirmed cases had “large numbers of close contacts that have required testing and self-isolation for 14 days.”

Speaking to Newstalk, Kingston Mills, Professor of Immunology at Trinity College Dublin, said everyone needs to be cautious as more restrictions are eased tomorrow:

“I would also be concerned about the opening of the pubs,” he said.

“I think if the pubs open up, OK they are serving meals initially, at least in the first few weeks, but I think people have alcohol in the pub and it is going to become a potential issue, another location for the spread of the virus.”

He said officials will now be working to find out whether the majority of new cases are being transmitted in the community of in health settings.

There have now been 25,437 confirmed cases of the virus in Ireland, while the death toll has risen to 1,734.