All-island efforts to combat COVID-19 need to be 'stepped up', a Fine Gael senator says.
John McGahon says cooperation needs to be increased between authorities in the Republic and Northern Ireland.
It comes as the North recorded 934 new cases of the virus yesterday, by far the highest number to date.
Another 726 cases have been reported in the North today.
New restrictions for the hospitality sector in Strabane and Derry are in place, due to particularly high rates of infection there.
However, Senator McGahon says growing coronavirus numbers are being recorded 'right across the border area'.
He said: "It's quite clear that COVID really doesn't recognise borders - and it's extremely important that all of those lines of communication are open between north and south.
“People go to restaurants across the border, they go shopping, they socialise. They go to sporting events or their workplaces across border.
"This will require an all-Island effort to bring the virus under control."
A number of experts have made similar calls, with DCU Professor Anthony Staines saying that authorities north and south must work together to bring down the level of infection.
Border areas in the Republic have become some of the areas worst-impacted by COVID-19, with the incidence rates in Donegal and Monaghan now surpassing Dublin.
