Health officials have reported 269 additional cases of COVID-19 in the Republic today and one further death related to the disease.
Of the cases reported nationally, 133 are men and 131 are women, while 70% are under 45 years of age and the median age is 31 years old.
As of 8am today, 181 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 47 are in ICU. There have been 6 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
Dr Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said: “We have already seen the fantastic impact of vaccination amongst our healthcare workers and in our nursing homes.
“However, the declining incidence across all age groups in recent weeks cannot be attributed to vaccination but rather to the enormous efforts of people across society to keep themselves and their families safe.
“If we can keep incidence relatively low over the coming weeks, vaccination will increasingly play a role in suppressing this virus. This will make it easier for all of us to balance the risks associated with COVID-19 while gradually easing public health measures.”
In the meantime, the Deputy CMO asked people to continue to follow the public health guidelines.
