The acting Chief Medical Officer has warned that further lockdowns in other regions could be put in place following a recent surge in coronavirus cases.
This week coronavirus restrictions have been implemented once again in Kildare, Laois and Offaly following concerns regarding a recent spike in the number of cases in the midlands.
On Saturday 174 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in Ireland, a massive jump compared to recent days.
Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said while the numbers were high they were not unexpected and warned that it is likely more and more cases will be announced in the coming days.
And Dr Glynn did not rule out the possibility of of further lockdowns in other regions across the country if cases continue to rise.
Speaking on RTE Six One News Dr Glynn said: "It won't take much for other regions to have a problem as well so we need everyone to be cautious and follow public health guidelines."
He said one of the key measures is looking at the 14 day incidence adding that Kildare is at 130 per 100,000 tonight while Dublin is at 10 or 11 in comparison.
Kildare accounted for 110 of the 174 cases confirmed om Saturday.
Dr Glynn said he was not contemplating regional lockdowns for anywhere else at this time and he hopes the three counties will be out of this lockdown in two weeks' time.
But he added Ireland is likely to see a jump in Covid-19 cases in coming days with more testing of hundreds of employees in food processing plants and their families.
Dr Glynn said that while most cases are linked to outbreaks and clusters he added if the spread of the virus returns to the community it will be much more difficult to control,,
"We have been monitoring the situation very closely in these counties for the past 10 days," Dr Glynn said.
"When there is cases like this, the public health team come in [to factories] and all of the necessary measures that need to be taken will be taken."
He said the reason for more cases is that "we are more aware now that people can be asymptomatic so more tests are being carried out".
Speaking on tonight's figures Dr Glynn said: "Tonight’s figures are a reflection of these measures with 118 of these cases linked to the counties of Kildare, Laois and Offaly.
“Our priority now and our reason for recommending the proactive measures announced last night, is to avoid these cases and clusters leading to widespread community transmission of the disease.
“50 of tonight’s cases are located outside of these three counties and around the rest of the country. I once again ask everyone regardless of where you live in the country to take every precaution possible to help us control the spread of this disease and protect our most vulnerable.
