The Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan has said that, given the current record levels of transmission of Covid-19 in the community, every individual should consider themselves potentially infectious and behave accordingly.
He pointed out that if a person was exposed to the virus on Christmas Day they would be at their most infectious to the people they encounter today, New Year's Eve.
This, he said, poses a serious risk of significant additional spread of the virus and he urged people to stay at home other than for essential work or care purposes.
His comments came on foot of yesterday's record daily case numbers showing 1,718 new infections as well as news from the HSE that its contact tracers phoned 2,000 people on Wednesday alone to