Irish health officials have reported 1,392 new cases of Covid-19 over the past 24 hours.
As of 8am today, 288 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 73 are in ICU - marking an increase in ICU numbers of six from Thursday.
The five-day moving average is now 1,311.
Meanwhile, a whole host of restrictions are set to be eased from Monday after Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Tony Holohan gave the go-ahead.
From September 20, workers will be returning to the office for the first time in over a year "for specific business requirements that may commence on a phased and staggered attendance basis".
Another long-awaited easing of restrictions will be seen in the return of organised indoor group activities, like sports, arts, culture, and dance classes.
They will be able to take place with capacity limits of 100 people with appropriate protective measures in place - as long as they are immune (i.e. fully vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19 within the previous six months).
People under 18 who are accompanied can also attend organised indoor group activities, but where there is mixed immunity status, pods of up to six participants will be allowed.
However, the number of pods will have to take into account the size of the venue and the ability to adhere to 2m social distance.
Restrictions on outdoor group activities for participants will then also be removed.
However, where appropriate, spectator attendance will remain in line with regulations for events.
NPHET announced on Thursday that the latest easing of restrictions will go ahead as planned from September 20.
