A further 4,962 new cases and seven further deaths have been announced by the Department of Health this evening.
It is the latest big spike in Ireland's third wave which has seen record numbers of cases and hospital numbers spiralling.
Eamon Ryan has suggested that the 5km exercise limit could be reduced to just 2km if Covid-19 continues to spread across Ireland.
Mr Ryan told Newstalk this morning: "It's always in our hands to the level of contact we have, so whether that's for example reducing the travel restrictions from 5km down to 2km, which we did last March and April, and there's a range of other different measures we could look at.
"But that's for a week or two's time, if we find that the numbers aren't starting to flatten off and decrease.
"I think they can, nothing is certain, but my sense from looking at the traffic figures and anecdotally from friends, I think Irish people are very aware of the risks and what is at stake.
"I think we collectively have been good in the last nine months and we will be this week, locking down tight, avoiding contacts and simple measures like that are the way to manage this.
"And I think if we all do that we will see those numbers start to fall again and we'll avoid the worst consequences for our hospitals."
We will have all the very latest updates throughout the evening in our live blog right here.
