Ireland recorded 252 new cases of Covid-19 on Monday, a very encouraging drop ahead of restrictions being lifted next week.
In more positive news, no further deaths were announced during a briefing from the National Public Health Emergency Team.
And dropping below 300 for the daily number of infections is a very positive move, with restaurants set to be allowed reopen if the trend continues.
The hospitality industry has been told that the magic number of Covid cases that will allow a mass reopening of restaurants next week will be “in the 200s.”
And 18 counties in particular are seeing very encouraging signs, recording six or less cases.
Of those counties, Carlow had no new infections.
Dublin again saw the highest number, although infections dropped significantly to 88.
Cork was next with 26 more people being diagnosed, followed by Kilkenny with 21 and Louth and Mayo which both had 16.
Of those to receive a positive result, 128 were women and 124 were men, while the average age was 34.
Meanwhile, 65% of those infected were under the age of 45.
As of 2pm, 289 patients were in hospital with the virus, 33 of which were in intensive care.
There were 11 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
Here's the latest breakdown of cases across the country:
Donegal - 13
Louth - 16
Limerick - 12
Roscommon - <5
Waterford - <5
Meath - <5
Offaly - <5
Dublin - 88
Monaghan - 5
Westmeath - <5
Kilkenny - 21
Longford - <5
Cavan - <5
Mayo - 16
Tipperary - <5
Clare - <5
Kildare - 6
Cork - 26
Sligo - <5
Carlow - 0
Leitrim - <5
Wicklow - 6
Galway - 5
Kerry - 6
Laois - <5
Wexford - <5
