Up to half the population could have Covid 19 without realising it.
That’s according to the chairman of the Coronavirus Expert Advisory Group.
There are now just over 16 thousand confirmed cases of coronavirus here and 730 people have lost their lives.
Cillian de Gascun says recent research indicates between 30 to 50 per cent of people could have it with mild to no symptoms.
"When we first saw the data coming from China from the WHO report it suggested that true asymptomatic infection was very uncommon, it was in the region of 1-2%.
"IN recent weeks now it's suggesting that in other parts of the world, and this doesn't mean that the data from China were wrong, it means the virus is evolving.
"The genuine prevalence of asymptomatic infection may now be between 30-50% of the population."
