A covid vaccine if available next summer could boost growth to 4,8pc

A Finance Ministry forecast published on Wednesday concluded that if a coronavirus vaccine were to be widely available in mid-2021, economic growth next year could rise to an estimated 4.8pc. But if the current rate of infection persists, the figure would be a low 2.2pc.

On Wednesday, the Health Ministry reported 665 new covid cases, raising the total of actively ill to 8,40, the serious cases to 304 and 2,682 deaths. The infection rate dropped to 1.6pc positive out of 41,300 tests