“A very large number of cases” of Covid-19 from one hospital, some of which were recorded in mid-March, have only now been reported to authorities.

Tonight, the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) said 426 new cases had been reported, but less than 200 of these relate to specimens tested in recent days.

Tony Holohan, the chief medical officer, said the figure of 426 included the reporting of a significant number of cases from one hospital which date from over a period of time.

Asked if he believed other hospitals may also have not reported cases, Dr Holohan said he believed the vast majority of hospitals had taken “responsible and legally-mandated action” to report any cases of Covid-19 they had identified.

He said, however, that steps will now be taken to ensure there are no other hospitals which have not reported cases.

Dr Holohan said a percentage of the new cases reported yesterday related to a cluster identified in a meat processing plant in the south of the country.

Nationally, a total of 23,827 cases of Covid-19 have been reported in Ireland to date.

The NPHET confirmed 10 more people with Covid-19 in Ireland have died, bringing the number of Covid-19 related deaths here since the beginning of the outbreak to 1,506.

Dr Holohan also said the NPHET met yesterday and have given further advice to the Government. “We still want to see progress over the coming days,” he said.