There have been 29 further deaths and 776 new cases of Covid-19 confirmed in the State on Friday.
17 of these deaths occurred in February, while 12 occurred in January. The median age of those who died was 77 years old, while ages ranged from 29 to 95 years old.
Of the cases notified on Friday, 67 per cent are under 45 years of age.
There are 278 cases located in Dublin, 69 in Galway, 57 in Meath, 52 in Kildare and 48 in Donegal. The remaining 272 cases are spread across all other counties.
It comes as a member of the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) has confirmed that a new variant of potential concern identified in Ireland for the first time is connected to travel.
Dr Cillian de Gascun, also the director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, said one case of the B1525 variant had been identified in the east of the country through contact tracing.
The variant was different from others because it had a mutation of concern which could be vaccine resistant, Dr de Gascun told RTE radio’s News at One.
Contact tracing
Meanwhile, the head of the HSE's Covid-19 test and trace system, Niamh O'Beirne, has said there will be more investigative reverse contact tracing, which will allow local notifications for anyone who has been in a particular place at a particular time to present for a test.
The more investigative contact tracing will go back seven days and will involve a “bit of investigative work” to see if others need to test, she explained.
Ms O’Beirne said the highest level of positivity was still in households. The average number of close contacts was 3.3 and in one case it had been 38, with some from workplace settings averaging 10-15.
It comes as the number of partygoers fined by gardaí amid Ireland's third Covid-19 lockdown has almost doubled over the past month.
The head of the HSE has urged businesses and the public not to throw away the progress made in suppressing the spread of Covid-19, amid signs that compliance with public health restrictions is beginning to crumble.
