Ireland reports 2 more deaths as COVID-19 cases top 1,000

Two more COVID-19 patients died while another 219 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in Ireland on Monday, the country's Department of Health said in a statement.

To date, there have been a total of 1,125 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and six COVID-19-related deaths in the country, said the statement, adding that the latest two victims of the disease are both male from the east of Ireland.

Officials of the department said that the two death cases had no underlying health conditions.

In another development, Irish Minister for Health Simon Harris told local media on Monday that priority testing for COVID-19 may be implemented as there are a large number of people in the country who are waiting for a test.

Harris said that efforts are underway to increase the testing capacity in the country. He also said that more personal protective equipment is due to arrive from China at the end of the week.

Earlier in the day, local media quoted public health officials as saying that around 40,000 people in Ireland are currently waiting for a COVID-19 test and the average waiting time for a test is between four and five days.