Muireann Duffy
There have been 525 new cases of Covid-19 recorded today, with three additional deaths.
Dublin recorded 214 cases, while there were 37 in Meath, 28 in Offaly and Limerick, and 25 in Wicklow. There were 8 cases in Waterford and the remaining 185 cases were spread across 19 other counties.
74 per cent of today's cases were under the age of 45, 271 were men and 254 were women.
According to the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet), as of 8am on Sunday morning, there were 423 people with Covid-19 being treated in hospitals around the country, 103 of whom were in intensive care.
This represents a slight increase from the number reported on Saturday morning, when there were 414 patients with the virus in hospital, including 101 patients in ICU.
The country's 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 is now 172.3, with seven counties recording rates in excess of 200 cases per 100,000 people over the last two weeks.
Longford and Offaly broke the 300 mark, recording 381.7 and 342.5 respectively, while Westmeath, Dublin, Louth, Meath and Limerick also have among the highest rates of the virus in the country.
Earlier today, President Michael D Higgins signed new legislation into law, allowing for the introduction of mandatory hotel quarantine in the State.
The Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, confirmed a deal now must be signed with a service provider, which he anticipated would be done shortly.
When a deal is reached, passengers arriving from 33 'high-risk' countries, named on the Government's Category 2 list, will be required to isolate in a hotel for a two-week period.
Mr Donnelly has said the Government will be able to amend and expand the list of countries as they see necessary.
