There are 126 new cases of Covid-19 in the country.
The total number of confirmed cases in the Republic is now 683.
Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Hololan, gave details of the 438 cases that were confirmed on Wednesday, March 18th.
55% are male, 43% are female, with the median age 44.
32% of cases have been hospitalised and 2.7% (12 cases) have been admitted to ICU.
114 cases are associated with healthcare workers, 36 of whom are associated with foreign travel.
Dublin has the highest number of cases at 51%, followed by Cork 15%, and Limerick and Wicklow have 3% of cases each.
Waterford still has 7 confirmed cases.
Of those for whom transmission status is known, community transmission accounts for 40%, local transmission/close contact accounts for 21%, travel abroad accounts for 39%, and 96 cases remain under investigation.
Dr Tony Holohan said: “Now is not the time for complacency. Every citizen who is practicing social distancing, who is taking precautions to limit the spread of this virus, is doing their country a service.
“The Department of Health has issued outdoor social distancing guidelines for everyone to follow. While we encourage people to exercise outside and maintain a healthy lifestyle, social distancing measures will continue to be paramount.”
The Dáil and Seanad passed emergency legislation today giving the Government the power to detain people with coronavirus who refuse to self-isolate.
