The country is moving to Level 5 restrictions for at least one month in order to contain the rise in coronavirus cases. There have been 13 more Covid-related deaths and 1,718 new cases reported by the Department of Health.
The Health Service Executive held their weekly press briefing where a number of these issues were discussed. Here are five things we learned from the briefing: 41% rise in demand for testing The HSE's National Lead for Testing and Tracing has said they have seen a 41% rise in the demand for Covid-19 testing, with 63,000 referrals seen over the past week.
Niamh O'Beirne said they expect to see that number double next week, as it is sharply increasing at the moment. Ms O'Beirne said trends indicate in the coming days