HSE 'cannot dispute Covid-19 projections' for Ireland

The HSE has said that it cannot dispute projections that 1.9 million people may fall ill here with coronavirus.

But it said that the modelling scenario is not completed yet.

Health officials said that the trends in Italy point towards large numbers of cases.

An update on confirmed cases here will be given by the National Public Health Emergency Team later.

To date, there have been 19 confirmed cases in the Republic of Ireland.

A study in the British Medical Journal last week projected that all COVID-19 cases will hit the NHS over a nine-week period.

It said that half of these cases would happen over a three-week period, putting huge pressure on the health services.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs has advised Irish citizens not to travel to the Italian region of Lombardy, and to the other provinces that have been placed in isolation