Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ireland rise to 24

Three new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Ireland, bringing the country's total number of such cases to 24, said the Irish Department of Health on Monday evening.

The three newly identified patients are all females and all of them have contracted the disease through close contact with a confirmed case, said the department in a statement, adding that one of them is a healthcare worker in the south of Ireland.

In another development, the Irish government on Monday announced a 3-billion-euro (about 3.4 billion U.S. dollars) aid package to deal with the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Meanwhile, it also announced a decision to cancel all the public celebrations for the coming Saint Patrick's Day, a major public holiday in the country, including a grand parade scheduled in downtown Dublin on March 17, which annually attracts nearly half a million spectators.( 1 euro = 1.14 U.S. dollars)