The Republic’s 14-day incidence rate of coronavirus has continued to fall for the third day in a row.
The figure is now estimated to be around 292 cases of the virus per 100,000 population, after 866 new cases were confirmed last night.
A member of the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) has said the latest figures are displaying some “green shoots of hope” that the country is turning the tide on the spread of the virus.
Cavan remains the county with the highest 14-day incidence rate, however, it has seen a reduction from a peak last week to a current 753 cases per 100,000.
Despite some optimism in the figures, Nphet member and chief clinical officer with the HSE Dr Colm Henry said there is still "much to worry about" with the current spread of Covid-19 based on the experiences of other EU countries.
“We’ve always been behind them in terms of our experience and had the advantage of seeing how it’s beginning to impact on their healthcare service,” he said.
“We see that happening now in Belgium, the Czech Republic, where their intensive care services or acute hospital services are under strain and they’re very worried.
“So the message this morning is there are green shoots of hope, but we’re only ever two or three weeks away from our health systems being overrun.”
The number of people hospitalised with the virus is also down from a high of 354 on Tuesday to currently stand at 327, however, the number of people in intensive care continues to grow overall.
There were 43 people with the virus in intensive care as of last night, the highest figure seen since the end of May.
DCU Professor of Health Systems, Anthony Staines, said that overall the figures show the country is making progress under current Level 5 restrictions.
“It is positive because it could have continued going up or it could have stayed the same, so something is probably beginning to happen," he said.
"It’s too early to be patting ourselves on the back yet, but it’s certainly going in the right directions.”
