The Acting Chief Medical Officer has said the situation in Dublin has 'deteriorated' as coronavirus cases continue to rise in the captial.
And Dr Ronan Glynn tonight expressed particular concern for three other counties following the announcement of the latest coronavirus figures.
Speaking this evening Dr Glynn said that concerning trends had been identified in Donegal, Louth and Waterford in the last week.
He said: "The current situation has deteriorated both in Dublin and nationally over the past week. Along with Dublin we have seen particularly concerning trends in Louth, Waterford and Donegal.
"It is now absolutely essential that people action public health advice and act as if they or those close to them are potentially infectious.”
A further 254 coronavirus cases were confirmed this evening, the majority of which were in Dublin which remains the epicentre of Covid-19 in Ireland.
136 were in Dublin, 20 in Donegal, 13 in Louth, 12 in Wicklow, 9 in Waterford, 7 Carlow, 7 in Cork, 6 in Galway, 5 in Kerry, 5 in Wexford and the remaining 28 cases are located in Clare, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Mayo, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon and Westmeath.
Meanwhile Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said he was more concerned now than he has been at any point since April.
He said: “The reproduction number is between 1.3 – 1.7 nationally.
Case numbers appear to be growing exponentially and are likely to double every 10 to 14 days if every one of us does not immediately act to break chains of transmission of the virus.
"If we do not interrupt transmission now, bring the r-number back to below 1, modelling shows that we could have 500 -1,000 cases per day by the 16 of October, 50-60% of which would be in Dublin.”
Meanwhile Dr Colm Henry of the HSE issued a stark warning about the recent rise in Covid-19 hospitalisations following a recent jump in ICU admissions.
He said: “There are currently 73 COVID-19 patients in hospital, 9 of these have been admitted in the past 24 hours. 14 of these patients are in ICU. We are seeing a sharp increase in rate of admissions of COVID-19 patients into our acute hospitals.
"We know that without a reversal of these trends, admissions can escalate rapidly to the point where our healthcare facilities will be under unsustainable pressure.
"It is more essential than ever that we all adhere to the basic measures which can weaken the virus in the community.”
