Health officials have announced 518 confirmed cases of coronavirus this evening.
No further deaths have been announced.
It comes as Cabinet prepared to reject the National Public health Emergency Team’s call for the whole country to move to Level Five restrictions.
Instead the rest of the country will join Dublin and Donegal on Level Three.
Some 134 of the new cases were in Dublin, with 53 in Cork, 49 in Limerick, 34 in Donegal and 32 in Meath.
The remaining 216 cases were spread across 20 counties.
In a statement, the Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said there has been a “significant and concerning deterioration in the epidemiological situation” around the country in recent days.
“It is vital that we do everything in our power now to arrest the current trajectory nationally and very substantially suppress the virus back down to a low level of transmission in advance of the winter months,” he said.
“Do not become distracted from the core public health messages; wash hands regularly, keep your distance, wear face coverings where appropriate, avoid crowded environments, cut your social contacts down to minimum levels, know the symptoms and isolate yourself and contact your GP immediately if you experience them.”
Some 78 of the new cases have been identified as community transmission while 30% are associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case.
The Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said Ireland’s “core priorities” must be protected in the coming weeks.
“We must work together to keep our non-COVID health services open, keep our children in education and protect the lives of the most vulnerable to this disease.
“Solidarity is now more important than ever as we work to once again suppress this virus in our communities.”
The national death toll from the virus now stands at 1,810 while the national total is 38,549.
