One further death and 434 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the Republic.
Of the cases notified today, 74 per cent are under 45 years of age and the median age is 31 years old.
There are 217 cases located in Dublin, 30 in Kildare, 30 in Cork, 27 in Limerick and 21 Donegal. The remaining 109 cases are spread across 20 other counties.
As of 8am this morning, there were 166 people hospitalised with the disease, including 48 in intensive care. 17 additional hospitalisations were seen over the past 24 hours.
Reopening update
The figures come after a senior Government official warned on Friday that Ireland is at arguably its “trickiest moment” as it begins to ease public health restrictions.
Liz Canavan, assistant secretary general at the Department of the Taoiseach, said people can afford to be “cautiously optimistic” but they need to “stay vigilant”.
“The careful and staggered relaxing of restrictions has to be at just the right pace so that we do not get ahead of ourselves so the disease incidence and the protection the vaccine brings are not in balance,” she said.
From Monday non-contact outdoor sports activities, such as golf and tennis, can resume, outdoor visitor attractions, such as zoos, wildlife parks and pet farms, can reopen and the maximum attendance at funerals will be increased to 25.
It is expected that hairdressers, non-essential retail and religious services will be prioritised under a further easing of restrictions next month.
Vaccine update
Meanwhile, the director general of the HSE noted the public are responding well to the State’s Covid-19 vaccination programme, with 1,750 people in the 64 age group signing up before 7am as vaccine registration opened to them on Friday.
With the HSE seeking to roll out the vaccination programme as quickly as it could, Paul Reid said his frustration levels with delays of deliveries of AstraZeneca would “blow the roof off".
The National Immunisation Advisory Committee’s (Niac) decision on Johnston & Johnston would be an important decision for everybody, he added, particularly for the campaign to protect vulnerable groups.
The HSE’s chief clinical officer, Dr Colm Henry has said that he believes the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a good vaccine and that it should be used.
Speaking on the matter of blood clots, Dr Henry said it was not a surprise that a number of cases linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine had been reported in Ireland, as it was a known and very rare side effect.
The Health Protection Regulatory Authority (HPRA) has received a total of 29 reports of blood clotting events of all types among people who have received the Covid-19 vaccine, and a "small number" of serious clotting-type events combined with low platelets among people who received the AstraZeneca jab.
