The National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) has confirmed 55 further deaths and 827 new cases of Covid-19 in the Republic on Saturday.
36 deaths occurred in February and 18 in January, while the date of one death remains under investigation.
The median age of those who died is 86 years old, while the ages of those who died range from 49 to 100.
Of the new cases notified on Saturday, 63 per cent are under 45 years of age.
There are 297 cases located in Dublin, 76 in Cork, 56 in Galway, 46 in Wexford, 37 in Kildare and the remaining 315 cases are spread across all other counties.
As of 2pm this afternoon, there were 1,177 Covid-19 patients hospitalised, including 177 in intensive care units. Some 29 additional hospitalisations were seen in the past 24 hours.
The number of Covid-19 patients in hospital has fallen in a trend that “is providing much relief for our hospitals, patients and families”, according to HSE chief executive Paul Reid.
In a statement issued on Saturday evening, chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan urged those experiencing symptoms of the disease to contact their GP as soon as possible.
“There are a few old habits that collectively we have to break in order to suppress Covid-19 together. We know that people who feel unwell typically avoid calling their GP over the weekend, and wait to see if they improve,” Dr Holohan said.
“You should no longer do that — you must phone your GP at the first sign of anything like Covid-19 symptoms. Do not adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach.
“Similarly, do not leave your house or go to work if you have any cold or flu like symptoms at all. Breaking these habits will limit Covid-19’s opportunity to spread from person to person.”
Vaccine rollout
Earlier on Saturday, Dr Holohan said Ireland was suppressing its third wave of Covid-19 infection faster than any other country in Europe, and in a “strong position” in a fight against the virus.
It comes as the first 21,600 doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine arrived in the Republic on Saturday.
The doses were delivered into the national cold chain store in Dublin from Belgium earlier in the afternoon.
The Health Minister has said the first doses will be distributed to healthcare workers from Monday.
Under revised plans agreed by the HSE and Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), those aged over 70 are set to begin receiving the Pfizer and Moderna jabs from GPs from February 15th.
Meanwhile in Northern Ireland, a further seven deaths and 390 positive cases of the virus were notified by the Department of Health on Saturday.
Some 300,000 people, or more than 15 per cent of the region's population, have received a vaccine to protect against the virus as of Friday.
