There have been 5,325 confirmed cases of coronavirus announced this evening alongside 17 further virus-related deaths.

Officials said 16 of the deaths occurred this month. It takes the death toll in the Republic to 2,282 and the total number of cases to 113,322.

The 14-day rate of the virus in Ireland is now 674.4 per 100,000 people. The seven-day incidence has risen to 522.7 while the five-day average is now 4,309.

This afternoon, there were 840 COVID-19 patients in Irish hospitals and 76 people in intensive care.

Of the cases announced this evening, 1,931 were in Dublin, with 767 in Cork, 323 in Kildare, 322 in Limerick, 238 in Donegal and the remaining 1,744 spread across all other counties.

"We can turn this around"

In a statement, the Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tony Holohan said the country is now experiencing a “considerable surge in cases and hospitalisations.”

“We can turn this around quickly if we stick to the measures we know worked last spring,” he said.

“We have seen some early progress in that the average number of contacts per case has been dropping in recent days – but we need to continue this effort to limit, as much as we can, our contact with other people in the days and weeks ahead.

“If we all stay home and keep to the public health advice, we can bring COVID-19 back under control - which ultimately will protect our essential services such as Health and Education and most importantly save lives.”

Ireland's 14-day coronavirus rate per 100,000 people. Image: Department of Health

Monaghan still has the highest 14-day rate in the country with 1243 cases per 100,000 people.

Louth is in second with 1173.1, with Limerick in third at 1113.4, Donegal in fourth 950.4 and Cavan in fifth 821.8.

Dublin is in sixth with 809.4 cases per 100,000.

Coronavirus testing positivity rates. Image: Department of Health.

The positivity rate of the coronavirus tests processed has dropped for the first time in nine days; however, it is still very high at 22.3%.

HSE Chief Paul Reid today warned that some testing centres were reporting positivity rates between 40% and 55%.

He said the health service was now under “real threat.”

Meanwhile, Senior ministers are currently considering whether to close construction sites over the coming weeks.

They are also discussing plans to delay the reopening of schools, with decisions expected to be ann0unced following a full meeting of Cabinet tomorrow.