One further death related to Covid-19 has been reported by health officials this evening, as well as 765 new confirmed cases of the disease.
Of the cases reported today by the Department of Health, 18 are in Galway, while 291 new cases are in Dublin, 63 in Cork, 59 in Monaghan, 49 in Louth and 43 in Meath.
70% of the cases are under 45 years of age and the median age is 33 years old.
As of 2pm today 359 people with Covid-19 are hospitalised across the Republic, of which 30 are in ICU.
Speaking this evening, the Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan urged people to come forward for testing if they feel unwell.
“Know the symptoms of Covid-19, and do not delay in phoning your GP for advice. Self-isolate in your room if you have a cough, fever, shortness of breath or change in sense of taste/smell,” he said.
“If you are a household contact of a confirmed case, restrict your movements until your household member receives a negative test result.
“In addition to staying at home except for essential reasons, these important individual actions will help to stop the exponential spread of Covid-19 in our communities and in turn protect the most vulnerable, our healthcare system and those who work on frontlines.
He added: “The data we are reporting today are lower than days up to 26 December. This however results from factors related to the time of the year, such as the lower rates of attendance and referrals and presentation for testing for several days over Christmas.
“We look at many metrics when monitoring the disease severity of COVID-19. Today we are reporting that we have now exceeded the cumulative number of people hospitalised in this third wave than in the second.
“Hospitalisations have increased sharply in the last two days. This is a concerning trend which reflects the sharp increase incidence we saw in the last 10 days.
