Dr Tony Holohan has again urged the public to adhere to health rules as the number of Covid cases recorded in January soared past 100,000.
The Chief Medical Officer said the fact that Ireland had more cases in one month than all of 2020 shows just how quickly the virus can spread.
He explained: “We have experienced over 1,000 deaths and more than 100,000 cases in January 2021. We have reported more cases in one month than we experienced throughout 2020.
"This shows just how quickly this disease can spread and how much it can impact public health.
“The efforts by all of the population in following the basic public health advice has seen us reduce the incidence of the disease very rapidly compared to most countries in Europe.
“Despite the recent, significant decrease in cases, there remains a level of infection in the population which is double that seen at the peak of incidence last October.
"The next few weeks need to see us maintain compliance with all of the measures that are in place so that we can get to levels of the disease that are as low as possible.”
Dr Holohan was speaking after Ireland recorded 1,414 new cases of Covid-19 on Saturday.
Tragically, 79 further people have lost their lives after fighting the deadly virus.
