There have been 3,394 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the Republic, according to the Department of Health.
Four further deaths associated with the virus have also been reported in the past 24 hours.
The latest figures bring the total amount of cases here to 96,926, while the number of coronavirus-related deaths stands at 2,252.
Of the latest cases, 65% are under 45 years of age, while the median age is 35 years old.
Regarding the nationwide distribution of cases, 389 are in Cork, 355 in Dublin, 339 in Donegal, 258 in Louth, 233 in Mayo and the remaining 1,820 cases are spread across all other counties.
1,619 are men and 1,766 are women.
As of 2pm today, 607 people are now receiving treatment in hospital for the virus after 71 new admissions in the past 24 hours.
Of those patients, 56 are in ICU, up nine from yesterday.
The 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 of the population now stands at 381.6.
Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health, said "every individual needs to act as if they are infectious".
He added that the 14-day incidence rate is "as high, if not higher now than it was in March".
Dr Holohan stated: "Hospitalisations are rising to levels close to what we saw in the springtime. Everyone needs to stay at home other than for essential work or care.
“It is really important that vulnerable and older people do not leave their homes unless absolutely essential.
"This includes asking neighbours or family to carry out errands such as grocery shopping, limiting all contacts to only those people you live with or have to visit for essential care reasons."
The CMO urged the public to “rediscover the spirit of solidarity and community we saw in March and April" so that "we can all do our part in protecting older and vulnerable people".
“People particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 include older persons and people with pre-existing medical conditions including cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease and cancer," he added.
The Department of Health also provided information on positive tests and confirmed cases in the latest 14-day period.
This is due to delays in the system in recent days as usually, the number of confirmed cases reported on a given day correlates with the number of positive tests the preceding day, allowing for validation and removal of duplicates.
Meanwhile, 3,576 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Northern Ireland in the last 48 hours.
There have also been 26 additional deaths reported by the Department of Health there, with one of those outside the 48-hour period.
Main image: Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health, at a briefing on Thursday. Photo: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie
