A further 12,208 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Ireland over the past three days, according to the Department of Health
There were another 1,715 positive cases of Covid-19 confirmed by PCR testing on Monday, while a further 2,049 people registered a positive antigen test through the HSE portal.
On Saturday, 5,277 Covid-19 cases were recorded in Ireland, while 3,167 cases were recorded on Sunday.
As of 8am on Monday, there were 1,081 Covid-19 patients in Irish hospitals, with 55 in intensive care.
Some three million vaccine doses to expire in Germany
Elsewhere, around three million Covid-19 vaccine doses are expected to expire in Germany by the end of June, a spokesperson for the health ministry said on Monday, as supply outstrips demand because a declining number of people are being vaccinated.
A law mandating the general population get vaccinated, which had failed to pass the parliament last week, could have increased demand and made use of the surplus shots.
After a shortage in vaccine doses at the beginning of the vaccine campaign in early 2021, Germany stepped up its deliveries to meet growing demand, but a lower inoculation rate means Germany has more vaccine than it needs or can donate.
Around 76 per cent of the population has received at least one dose, less than the level of more than 80 per cent in western European countries including France, Italy and Spain.
Shanghai eases lockdown in some areas
China's financial centre of Shanghai started easing its lockdown in some areas on Monday despite reporting a record of more than 25,000 new Covid-19 infections, as authorities sought to get the city moving again after more than two weeks.
Pressure has been mounting on authorities in China's most populous city, and one of its wealthiest, from residents growing increasingly frustrated as the curbs dragged on, leaving some struggling to find enough food and medicine.
City officials announced on Monday morning that they were grouping residential units into three risk categories as a step towards allowing "appropriate activity" by those in neighbourhoods with no positive cases during a two-week stretch, adding that district authorities would publish further details.
Japan reports first case of Covid variant XE
The Japanese health ministry on Monday reported the country's first case of coronavirus variant XE, in a woman who arrived at a Narita airport from the United States on March 26th.
Taiwan orders Pfizer's Covid-19 pill as infections rise
Taiwan has ordered 700,000 units of Pfizer Inc's anti-viral Covid-19 pill Paxlovid, its health minister said on Monday, amid a steady increase in the number of infections as the government pledges to gradually reopen its borders.
Taiwan has kept the pandemic well under control thanks to strict and early control measures. But daily infections have been rising in recent weeks, with 439 new cases reported on Monday, the second-highest daily increase this year.
The government is on alert even though the numbers remain comparatively low, and health ministry data shows 99.6 per cent of those infected so far this year showed mild or no symptoms.
Minister for health Chen Shih-chung said the pills ordered would be enough to cover 3 per cent of Taiwan's population, with half of them due to arrive in the second quarter this year.
-Additional reporting by Reuters
