The cases were confirmed on Wednesday evening.

Four new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the west of Ireland. The patients - two male and two female, from the western part of the country - are all associated with travel from the same affected area in Northern Italy. Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer with the Department of Health, confirmed the news on Wednesday evening - as he said that contract tracing is currently underway. “There is still no evidence of widespread or sustained community transmission in Ireland, as seen in some other EU countries," Dr. Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said. “While we now have six confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland, we continue our containment efforts, central to which is that the public know what to do in the event they have symptoms.” Covid-19 is spread through close contact with an infected person’s body fluids - like droplets from coughing or sneezing - or by touching surfaces that an infected person has coughed or sneezed on. The HSE advise anyone who knows they've been in close contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19 in the last two weeks and who has symptoms - which include cough, shortness of breath, fever - to:

• isolate themselves from the others, going into a separate, well-ventilated room with a phone.
• phone their GP or emergency department. If this is not possible, people are advised to phone 112 or 999.
• in a medical emergency, if you have severe symptoms, phone 112 or 999.

The general public is advised to follow advice from the HSE and the Health Protection Surveillance Centre to protect their health. You can find the full list of HSE guidelines and advice on coronavirus right here.