Waterford now has the 2nd highest incidence rate for COVID-19 in the country.
As of this evening, NPHET says the rate for the county has risen to 204 cases per 100,000 people.
Donegal is the worst affected county at a rate of 250.
A pop-up walk-in test centre in Dungarvan will stay open until the end of the week.
However, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ronan Glynn, has expressed concern about the situation in Dublin:
"We have some concerns in particular about Dublin, so while its incidence is not the highest in the country, we can see that the incidence has taken off there versus the rest of the country over the last number of days.
"And obviously, given the population size in Dublin, if that continues it will drive the national picture. We are aware, over the past number of weeks, that Delta was present at a greater proportion in the Dublin area."
448 new cases of COVID have been confirmed nationally this evening, while 44 people are in hospital and 14 in ICU.
The country's reproduction rate for the virus has risen above 1, according to Professor Philip Nolan from NPHET:
"The situation analysis is incidence is increasing, and that's a real concern. We're at close to 390 cases per day and above 100 cases per 100,000 population over 14 days.
"[We have] a growth-rate of 2% per day and the estimated reproduction number is that is now above 1 - estimated at between 1 and 1.2. And that incidence we're seeing across all age groups.
"This is a cause for concern."
