Dr Tony Holohan has issued an urgent warning in a message to the nation after a further rise in Covid-19 cases.
A total of 1,335 new coronavirus infections have been confirmed this evening.
Meanwhile sadly another 54 Covid-19 related deaths have been announced. 50 of those occurred in January.
The figures were confirmed by the National Public Health Emergency Team this afternoon.
And the Chief Medical Officer has called on members of the public not to meet people from outside their own household.
He added that the risk of community transmission remains "very high".
Dr Holohan said: “The current 14 day incidence remains more than double the peak incidence experienced during previous Level 5 measures in October, therefore, now is not the time to drop your guard and start to interact with people outside your household.
"The risk of transmission in the community remains very high. We must continue to work towards reducing incidence of disease and preventing further hospitalisations and deaths.”
It comes after Micheal Martin warned we are settling in for “a prolonged suppression” of Covid.
The Taoiseach has indicated that we are in lockdown for some time to come, as he said that when we get case numbers down again, he wants to keep them down.
It was announced on Tuesday night that we are now formally in lockdown until Friday March 5th, but all the signals from Government are pointing to it lasting much longer.
Tanaiste Leo Varadkar also suggested we are in it for the long haul when he said that we will not be seeing a jump back from Level 5 to Level 3 in March, like we saw last month.
Mr Martin was tackled by Sinn Fain leader, Mary Lou McDonald, during the Leaders’ Questions Dail exchange.
She branded the latest lockdown announcements “half measures.”
Mr Martin laid out the long road ahead in the battle against Covid.
He said: “I want to make it clear that there will be no half measures from me as Taoiseach or from Government in ensuring a prolonged suppression of this virus.
“We will do whatever it takes to keep the numbers down once we get them down.
“We and the Irish people are achieving that.
“Case numbers are falling steeply as we speak.
“The swift introduction of level 5 over Christmas and, critically, the adherence of the Irish people to those guidelines is resulting in a steep decline in numbers.
“That said, the key reality for the front-line healthcare workers, who are performing heroically on behalf of us all for a prolonged period of time and particularly during this critical phase in assisting all who get Covid and are hospitalised, is that we have to get the numbers of hospitalisations and of people in intensive care down.
“When we get them down, we can never allow them back up to the levels they are at now. “That is clear, as far as I am concerned.
“That will mean prolonged suppression of the virus in this country.”
