Ireland has gone its first day without any new Covid-19 cases being admitted to critical care since St Stephen's Day in a huge milestone in the battle against the pandemic.
The country saw a further 687 new coronavirus cases this evening meanwhile one further death was confirmed.
While Ireland is still seeing high levels of infection the deputy Chief Medical Officer has said that we are making huge progress in terms of the hospital situation here.
And the top NPHET doctor has encouraged people to continue to follow public health advice in the coming weeks.
Speaking on Monday Dr Ronan Glynn said: “While the number of daily cases and the number of people in hospital and critical care remain high, we continue to make progress.
"In the last 24 hours, we have had no new admissions to critical care, the first time this has happened since St. Stephen’s Day.
"This is one more tangible signal of the efforts that people continue to make and how those efforts are impacting positively on the trajectory of Covid-19 in Ireland. Please stick with this over the coming weeks."
As of 8am today, 540 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 120 are in ICU. 14 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has offered some optimism that the country will see a relative return to normality next year.
The Fine Gael leader has made clear that restrictions will remain in place for some time as the battle to reduce Covid cases continues.
However, Mr Varadkar has said that he is optimistic that we will see some normality this summer, and has said he anticipates a "very normal life" as vaccines are rolled out throughout the year.
