Updated at 20:23
The Chief Medical Officer has warned of a 'stark situation' in hospitals across the country as admissions continue to rise.
Speaking this evening, Dr Tony Holohan said: “The situation in our hospitals is stark. We are seeing people of all ages being admitted to hospital and being taken into intensive care units."
It comes as a further 13 deaths and an additional 2,944 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed this evening by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet).
They said that all 13 of the deaths occurred in January.
With tonight's figures, there has now been a total of 2,608 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland.
There is also now a total of 172,726 confirmed cases of the virus in Ireland.
Nphet said of the cases notified today: 1,336 are men and 1,578 are women, 57 per cent are under 45 years of age and the median age is 40 years old.
In terms of the location of today's cases: 1,065 cases are in Dublin, 306 are in Cork, 181 in Galway, 180 in Kildare, 160 in Limerick and the remaining 1,052 cases are spread across all other counties.
Nphet said as of 2pm today, 1,928 Covid-19 patients are in hospital and a further 195 are in ICU. They also said 68 additional hospitalisations have happened in the past 24 hours alone.
Regarding the estimated first dose given out of the Covid vaccine, there have been 77,303 people who have received it so far.
Dr Holohan added “The levels of infection are such that your chances of transmitting or getting Covid-19 are very high, and we know that a proportion of those cases will lead to serious illness and mortality.
“There is no group who should feel the public health advice does not apply to them. It is only if we act together that we can keep ourselves, our loved ones, and health and social care facilities safe.
“As we look forward to the week ahead, consider your choices and make the right ones. Do not go into work tomorrow if you can work from home. If you are an employer, facilitate remote working for your employees.”
