Four further deaths and 859 new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the Republic, with the North reporting six deaths and 923 new cases.
There have now been a total of 1,882 coronavirus-related deaths in the State.
Of the new cases, 62 per cent are in people aged under 45, with 192 cases located in Dublin, 148 in Cork, 58 in Donegal, 55 in Galway, 54 in Meath and the remaining 352 cases spread across all other counties in the Republic.
The news comes as the Taoiseach warned there were “bumpy roads ahead” for Ireland in the struggle against the virus.
With the State this week moving to the highest level of restrictions in an effort to contain the disease, Micheál Martin said lessons had been learned from reopening society and the economy after the first lockdown.
This experience would inform the decisions that will need to be made when it comes to easing restrictions at the end of the six week period, he said.
“As a country we are getting through this and there are a lot of bumpy roads ahead in relation to Covid-19,” he told the MacGill Summer School, which is being held online this year because of the pandemic.
Mr Martin accepted the Level 5 restrictions are “very difficult” for people “who are now fatigued, particularly after the first lockdown” but added “that is the cycle we are in”.
