There have been four additional deaths recorded from the coronavirus and 429 new confirmed cases.

There has been a total of 2,010 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland and 69,473 cases here.

Of the cases notified on Thursday:

• 194 are men/234 are women
• 69% are under the age of 45
• The median age is 34

Some 173 cases are in Dublin, 44 in Cork, 26 in Donegal, 22 in Louth and 21 in Kildare.

The remaining 143 cases are spread across 20 counties.

As of 2.00pm on Thursday, 290 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised - of which 33 are in ICU.

There have been 15 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

Source: Department of Health

There have been 76,875 test completed in the last seven days, with a positive rate of 3.7%.

However the Department of Health has said while the numbers of tests remain high, the positivity rate is now decreasing.

Source: Department of Health

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, said: "In our objective to use a six-week period to drive down COVID-19 infection in the community, our progress has stalled in the last week.

"We now have two weeks to get back on track.

"Drive down the disease by limiting the number of daily contacts you have.

"Work from home, stay at home and follow public health advice to get us to a reproduction number below 0.5 by December 1st."

Source: Department of Health

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said: "Deaths associated with COVID-19 have increased by 18% in the European region over the past fortnight.

"Last week alone, Europe registered over 29,000 new deaths. That is one person dying every 17 seconds.

"We have made significant progress in Ireland over recent weeks, but the disease and its risks have not changed.

"Please continue in your efforts to follow public health advice, limit the transmission of COVID-19 in Ireland and protect those who are most vulnerable in our families and across our communities."

Source: Department of Health

Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said: "For three weeks we saw case numbers declining at a rate of 5 -7% per day and a reproduction number as low as 0.6.

"We are aware that case numbers have now stopped declining and as a consequence the reproduction number has increased to an estimated 0.7- 0.9.

"The data strongly suggests that a small, recent increase in the level of social contacts has led to the increase in reproduction number we see now.

"A small additional effort to reduce our contacts will make a big difference to reduce disease incidence before December 1st."

And Dr Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer at the HSE, added: "This pandemic has placed huge demands on our healthcare workers in addition to the standard care of patients.

"Their work now involves additional infection prevention and control measures which require constant vigilance and awareness.

"The best way we all can show our appreciation for their work is by doing your part to reduce community transmission."