Two more COVID-19 patients have died and four new cases have been confirmed.

It is the lowest number of new cases reported since March 9th.

It brings the death toll in the Republic to 1,717 while the national total for confirmed cases stands at 25,383.

The Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said nearly 73% of the clusters of the virus that were detected in recent months have now been addressed.

He said a cluster is categorised as ‘closed’ once 28 days have passed with no new cases confirmed.

He said this has now happened in 345 of the 473 clusters that were identified around the country.

Some 190 of the 260 clusters identified in the country’s nursing homes have been closed.

It comes after the World Health Organisation reported the largest increase in confirmed cases of the virus around the world since the outbreak began.

There were 183,000 new cases registered worldwide yesterday, according to the organisation.

Meanwhile, a further 33,000 people signed off the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment this week.

Over 465,000 people will receive the payment this week.

The government has said over 125,000 people have closed their claim since the reopening of the economy got underway.

Ireland is due to begin Phase Three of reopening on Monday July 29th.