Ireland's chief doctor says rise in COVID-19 infections concerning

Ireland's chief medical officer on Saturday described a recent spike in COVID-19 infections as "concerning", as the average number of cases per day doubled from around 20 in recent weeks to over 40 over the past five days.

Ireland, which still has lower infection rates than much of Europe, reported 45 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, down from a two-month high of 85 cases on Thursday.

"Over the last five days we have seen an average of 44 cases a day. This trend is clearly concerning," Chief Medical Officer Ronan Glynn said in a statement.