A Cork GP has said it is "worrying" that he is not seeing an increase in calls for COVID-19 testing despite a rising number of cases.
53 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the Republic yesterday, bringing the total amount of cases here to 26,162.
The Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said the five-day average now stands at 47.
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast today, Dr Nick Flynn, a partner at MyCorkGP group, said the rise in cases is "worrying but not surprising".
He said given the increased social activity, "we knew there was going to be increased numbers in cases and it's about our response to those cases now".
He said: "As a GP I'm finding the time between getting a test and getting a result excellent at the moment.
"We need to have the courage of our convictions, we need to only make decisions personally and we need to keep going, we can't afford to go backwards.
Dr Flynn said people were delaying getting in contact once coronavirus symptoms were appearing.
He said: "Worryingly we're not seeing an increase in calls for testing and what I'm observing in my own practice is a little bit the other way.
"We now have people with symptoms that might be COVID presenting late."
He asked that people not attempt to self-manage their symptoms and to contact their GP.
Dr Flynn added that "people may have lost a little bit of enthusiasm after what has been six months of COVID and it's been very difficult for everybody".
