A total of 301 more people have tested positive for coronavirus in Ireland, while no more deaths have been confirmed.
It brings the number of infections here to 74,246 since the outbreak began.
The latest figures were announced by the Department of Health today.
Of today's cases, 119 were reported in Dublin, 32 in Donegal, 16 in Cork, 13 in Kildare, 13 in Kilkenny and the remaining 108 cases are spread across 18 other counties.
As of 2pm today, 231 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 28 are in ICU. There were 8 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
It comes after Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said there is a reasonable chance that Ireland faces a third wave of the coronavirus.
The Minister for Transport and Environment, Climate and Communications has also said that people can make a judgement about whether they're going to come home for Christmas.
He was speaking to Gavan Reilly on Newstalk this morning, and confirmed that he would be willing to have the COVID-19 vaccine live on air.
When asked about travelling home for Christmas, he stressed that it's important to not "shame" people who travel.
He said: "They are the best to make that call. It's not up to Government to make those calls, it's up to the each individual to make those calls. We're not promoting a huge amount of people returning.
"I think this [guidelines] is working well for us. What we shouldn't be doing is shaming those people [who may travel]. We don't know individual circumstances."
And while admitting that there is a chance there could be a third wave of COVID-19 in Ireland in the New Year, he defended the Government's decision to open the economy back up - despite a warning of caution from NPHET.
He continued: "It was a difficult balancing act [making decision based on NPHET advice]. We decided to open earlier than NPHET advised, it's a very difficult equation. It's a guidance, such as on busy streets like Henry Street, wear a mask. We learned that retail was a safe, good environment. We had to make some judgement calls."
