There have been 1,247 new cases of Covid-19 reported to the Department of Health today, and 15 additional deaths.
60 per cent of the cases were under the age of 45, 579 were men and 659 were women.
Dublin accounted for 430 of today's cases, while there were 97 in Wexford, 87 in Cork, 84 in Limerick and 76 in Galway. The remaining 473 cases were spread across all other counties.
There were 55 new cases in Waterford to give a 14-day incidence rate of 689.5 per 100,000 people. The last time the rate was that low in Waterford was the 6th of January.
At 2pm today, there were 1,516 patients being treated for Covid-19 in hospital, with 211 in Intensive Care Units (ICUs).
According to the HSE's daily Covid-19 operational update, at 6.30pm on Saturday, at which time there were 212 patients with the virus in critical care units, there was 38 adult critical care beds available in the State.
Ten hospitals had no available critical care bed, including Cork University Hospital, University Hospital Waterford and St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin.
In a statement from the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) this evening, chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said: "There is an onus on employers to ensure that, in the first instance, staff are encouraged to work from home and in cases where that is not possible, that their workplaces are safe for staff and customers and in full compliance with infection prevention and control measures.
“The [Health Prevention and Surveillance Centre] has comprehensive guidance on outbreak management and infection prevention control measures that every employer should be familiar with and activating on their premises.
"I encourage all employers and managers to review their workplaces and ensure they have effective measures in place"
'Major reopening' unlikely
Earlier today, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said a 'major reopening' is unlikely on March 5th and getting children back to schools remains a priority for the Government.
The current Level 5 restrictions are due to last until the first week of March after they were extended earlier this week, with Mr Martin saying the Government would take a "conservative and cautious" approach over the loosening of lockdown restrictions.
Talks between teachers' unions and the Department of Education are continuing this week aiming to agree on a start date for the phased reopening of schools, with students with special educational needs expected to be the first to return to classrooms.
Minister for Education Norma Foley is also due to discuss the Leaving Certificate with student, teacher and parent representatives amid calls for clarification regarding the exams in June following calls that students should be given the choice between receiving predicted grades or sitting written exams.
