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An Irish doctor who has tested positive for the coronavirus worked a shift at a hospital in the west since returning from northern Italy, it is understood.

The patient is one of the parents of a family diagnosed with the disease on Wednesday after coming home from holidays.

Patients who may have been in close contact with the infected man are being traced.

The family is now in hospital in the west of Ireland.

The HSE have been contacted for comment.

(Image: Michael Cooper/PA Wire)

(Image: Collins Photo Agency)

Three schools in Co Clare have closed over coronavirus fears.

It comes after a family of four in the county tested positive for the deadly Covid-19 after returning from Northern Italy.

Health officials are now attempting to trace those who have been in contact with members of the family.

One primary and one secondary institution in the area have informed parents that schools will remain closed for the next 14 days.

One school told parents that a person with coronavirus visited the grounds last Thursday and that the school will now be shut until Friday week as a precaution.

It added: "No one in school is displaying any symptoms currently. We will re-open next Friday, March 13 pending advice from the HSE."

Meanwhile, Health Minister Simon Harris has said schools should not close unless directed by the HSE.

(Image: Gareth Chaney/Collins)

Speaking on Thursday afternoon, he said: "It's important to say that those schools need to follow the advice of the public health authorities.

"There may be different scenarios for different schools, and this may happen a number of times in the coming days and weeks.

"For some schools it may be a closure, for other schools it may be that a class closes.

"For others it may be that an event within a school community is cancelled. So it's really important that schools do not act unilaterally."

(Image: Michael Cooper/PA Wire)

The family are believed to be from Co Clare, and a primary school in the area has been forced to close for two weeks.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said: “Contact tracing is under way for these four new cases.” The family victims followed two new confirmed cases in the North.

The new cases bring the total to nine across the island of Ireland while in Britain, which remains in a lower risk category compared to Italy, the number of infected patients hit 87.

However, Deputy Chief Medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn eased fears over horse racing fans’ annual pilgrimage to England next week.

He said: “Clearly we are looking at the international situation as it is evolving all of the time.

“I think it is important to differentiate between what we call localised community transmission and widespread community transmission.

“Certainly the evidence from the UK is that at most they have localised areas of community transmission.

“So in that context we wouldn’t be issuing any further advice in relation to people travelling to Cheltenham or any other event in the UK.”

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said the four patients were being treated in an isolated area of a hospital in the West last night.

He added: “It’s our first cluster and a cluster is a number of cases that are linked to one another.

(Image: NIAID/NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX)

“In this case they’re linked insofar as they travelled together from an infected area, and again in this case it was Italy.

“A cluster by definition then is contained and the links between all of the cases are known.

“So it’s now four out of the nine cases on the island. But each of those cases has been placed in appropriate infection control procedures and we’re confident the control arrangements can help to contain the spread of this infection.”

Dr Holohan also told RTE News it was likely tracking the movements of the four patients and contract tracing would provide a greater challenge.

He said: “It may well be the case and every individual contact tracing exercise is unique and depends on the contacts of the individuals.

“And obviously if there’s a cluster and it’s four people as in this particular case there are more potential contacts and more work for the public health doctors to do.” Six cases have now been confirmed in the Republic since Saturday, with three in the North.

Dr Holohan also insisted there is no reason to cancel St Patrick’s Day festivities and urged the public not to stereotype individuals or groups as fear over Covid-19 rises.

He also warned against schools, sports clubs and organisations closing without consulting health authorities.

It came after a Co Meath school, which has around 360 pupils, decided to shut yesterday as a precaution.

Management told parents yesterday morning they were waiting for further instructions from the HSE.

As fears of a mass outbreak continued to sweep the globe, the Government advised against all unnecessary travel to the four Italian regions at the epicentre of the alert there.

(Image: Gareth Chaney/Collins)

Dr Tony Holohan, who was earlier speaking at a Department of Health briefing, added: “There is a moderate to high risk of cluster-type transmission events elsewhere in Europe other than in Italy and the risk of widespread community transmission within Europe as being of moderate to high risk.

“It means we stay vigilant and we emphasise the symptoms to people travelling into the country.”

A second COVID-19 case was confirmed in Ireland on Tuesday after a woman who recently returned from northern Italy tested positive.

Health officials are still in the process of tracing all the people who were in contact with her.

Meanwhile, a major incident has been declared by Queen’s University Belfast as one of two new coronavirus cases in the North was identified as a student. Stormont Health Minister Robin Swann revealed two new presumptive positive tests yesterday, bringing the number of patients with the flu-like illness in the region to three.

He said steps were under way to identify those who had come into contact with the patients, who had travelled back to the North from northern Italy and elsewhere in the UK.

Mr Swann added: “As I’ve said from the beginning it was only a matter of when, not if, we receive positive cases here in Northern Ireland.

(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

“In line with established protocals these Northern Ireland test outcomes have been sent to Public Health England laboratories for verification.”

He added the two cases yesterday are “not connected”.

Mr Swann said: “One individual recently travelled from Northern Italy, the other had recent contact with a person elsewhere in the UK who has subsequently tested positive for COVID-19.”

It is unclear where the new patients, who are both adults are being treated but Mr Swann said they “are receiving appropriate care”.

He added: “I would stress Northern Ireland remains in containment phase.”

A hospital in the North is planning to send Covid-19 patients to England for treatment. Antrim Area is ready for drive-through testing for the virus and expects patients will receive results within four hours.

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Queen’s University revealed it has convened the major incident team to decide next steps but classes would continue as normal.

It read: “We have been informed by the Public Health Agency of a presumptive positive case of COVID-19 within the university.”

A total of 151 people in the North had been tested for COVID-19 by yesterday.

The first confirmation of an infected patient was last Thursday. It involved a Belfast mother who had returned from a trip to northern Italy after flying into Dublin and making their way home.