Dr Tony Holohan has said that NPHET "is a little concerned" about a sharp rise in cases following an easing of restrictions earlier this month.
The Chief Medical Officer was speaking on Thursday evening upon his return to work after the tragic passing of his wife Emer earlier this year.
Dr Tony said that the battle against Covid-19 is going in the right direction but the level of the virus is still high in Ireland.
He said: "We are not yet where we need to be."
A spike of cases in the past few days and a slight rise in Covid-19 admissions to hospital and intensive care "give us reason to be cautious".
He added: "We need to examine if these are to become more permanent or transitory."
He has urged the Irish public not to get ahead of the easing of restrictions and added that this could put further progress "at risk".
Dr Holohan and the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) will meet next week to make their recomendations about the speed of the roadmap out of level 5 lockdown.
He said that the data will "be observed more closely in the coming days before we can be satisfied that we have arrived at a point where we can advise Government on any easing of restrictions".
However, Holohan still offered some hope ahead of the government's planned cautious reopening roadmap.
"There is hope that we can look forward to a real easing of measures.
"We are in a strong position in that transmission levels have reduced substantially and the roll-out of vaccination is protecting more and more of those at risk from the severe effects of COVID-19.
"If we can maintain our current position there is hope that we can look forward to a real easing of measures, but it is as important as ever that we don't put that progress at risk by letting our collective guard down too much, or too early."
Ronan Glynn confirmed that although case numbers were slightly higher this evening, "all indicators of disease are stable or declining slowly".
Speaking at Thursday evening's health briefing, Dr. Glynn commended the public for doing their part in keeping close contacts as low as 2.6.
He reminded the public that in order to see a further reopening of the Irish economy, it's imperative that everyone continues to abide by the guidelines in place to stop the spread of COVID-19.
"The R number is estimated as being very close to 1.0. We continue to keep close contacts at 2.6 - a phenomenal testament to the public in keeping social transmission low", he said.
"All indicators of the disease are stable or declining slowly, though we may see an increase in cases over the coming days.
"Maintaining this over the coming weeks is key to managing community transmission, and a move towards easing of measures."
Meanwhile, health officials, yesterday confirmed a total of 10 additional COVID-related deaths in Ireland alongside 617 new cases.
As of April 20, 2021, 1,240,965 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland.
Of this number, 878,823 were people receiving their first dose, meaning that 362,142 people have received their second dose.
