Dr Ronan Glynn has urged people to take to a "collective task" and "break the chains of transmission" to stop the spread of coronavirus.
The Acting Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health was speaking as 396 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed today - 241 in Dublin.
He said today's surge was "seeded in the last week" and asked people to "plan to see half the number of people this week that you saw last week".
The top doctor said individual actions would help keep people and their families safe.
Dr Glynn said today: “The cases we are reporting today were seeded in the last week.
“This virus spreads from person to person.
"We now have a collective task across the country to break the chains of transmission and stop this virus from spreading further.
“Plan to see half the number of people this week that you saw last week.
"When you do meet, do so safely – keep your distance, wear a face covering if appropriate and wash your hands.
“Every individual action we take to interrupt the transmission of this disease keeps ourselves and our families safe."
Of the cases notified today;
172 are men / 224 are women
70% are under 45 years of age
26% are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case
58 cases have been identified as community transmission
241 cases are in Dublin, 36 in Cork, 19 in Donegal, 12 in Galway, 11 in Meath, 11 in Kildare, 9 in Monaghan, 7 in Louth, 6 in Clare, 6 in Offaly, 6 in Waterford and 5 in Wicklow, with the remaining 27 cases spread across 11 counties.
The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases here is now 32,933. Validation of data at the HPSC resulted in the denotification of one confirmed case.
The death toll still stands at 1,792.
