Of today's cases, 24 were recorded in Dublin, 13 in Kildare, eight in Kerry, six in Kilkenny, six in Limerick, six in Louth and five in Tipperary. The remaining 30 cases were recorded in Carlow, Clare, Cork, Galway, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Waterford and Wexford.
Forty-eight of the confirmed cases were male, while 50 were female. 66 per cent of the cases were under the age of 45.
In a statement containing today's figures, acting Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ronan Glynn reiterated the importance of following current public health guidelines.
“As we head into another weekend, keep physical distance top of mind at all times. Have no more than six visitors to your home and keep 2 meters between you. Open windows and keep rooms well ventilated if possible.
“It’s important that we all keep our number of social contacts low while we focus on keeping our schools safe, continuing to resume healthcare services and ultimately protecting the most vulnerable from Covid-19,” said Dr Glynn.
Earlier today, a Dublin doctor called for the daily Covid-19 figures announcement to be axed as they are causing "huge anxiety” and are “utterly meaningless”.
Dr Maitiú Ó Tuathail is one of a number of prominent Irish doctors urging for the daily figures to be replaced with a comprehensive weekly briefing, adding that no other European country makes daily announcements about Covid-19 numbers.
Elsewhere, the Government came under fire for new measures for restaurants and pubs that serve food, or the so-called 'Stasi' guidelines.
The new rules, which came into effect on Thursday, compel restaurants and pubs serving food to make a record of all meals ordered. They must be able to make the records available to a member of An Garda Síochána for up to 28 days after the meal.
Both the Restaurants Association of Ireland and Licensed Vintners Association voiced their disapproval of the new measures, before Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly was forced to defend the move saying there will be no additional administrative burden on pubs and restaurants as these businesses already retain receipts for VAT purposes.
