The National Public Health Emergency Team has recommended the closure of non-essential retail from St. Stephen's Day.
The Chief Medical Officer has warned the spread of Covid-19 is "out of control" with the number of cases doubling in less than a week.
A further 938 new cases were confirmed last night with 13 additional deaths, while the R number has risen to between 1.5 and 1.8 - the highest since March.
Restaurants and pubs serving food will close at 3 o'clock this afternoon as part of new restrictions - while hairdressers and barbers will also shut later.
Meanwhile, health officials say they don't think a new strain of coronavirus detected in Ireland is behind the recent rise in cases.
The variant was first picked up in the UK - and was found in 10 percent of samples analysed here last weekend.
It's been detected mainly in the east of the country and is likely to have been here since the second week of December.
