There have been four further deaths related to COVID-19 and 434 new cases confirmed this afternoon by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET).
The number of coronavirus-related deaths has now risen to 4,918, while the latest figures bring the total amount of cases here to 251,904.
Of the latest cases, 80% are under 45 years of age, while the median age is 31 years old.
Regarding the nationwide distribution of cases, 197 are in Dublin, 44 in Cork, 34 in Kildare, 20 in Limerick, 20 in Meath and the remaining 119 cases are spread across 16 other counties.
As of 8am today, 126 people are now receiving treatment in hospital for the virus after 15 new admissions in the past 24 hours.
Of those patients, 34 are in ICU, down from 36 yesterday.
The 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 of the population now stands at 129.7.
The five-day moving average is now 416, while the seven-day incidence is 64.1.
Ahead of the reopening of many businesses next week, Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health, urged people to continue to be vigilant regarding the public health guidelines.
“Next week we will see many more business open which means employees and customers will return to work and our economy will begin to restart in earnest," he said.
"This is a very positive sign and a testament to the hard work of the vast majority in suppressing incidence of disease in our communities.
“It is extremely important that business owners, employees and customers take great care and review safety protocols and practices and ensure to consider all the actions we can all take as individuals to protect ourselves and our loved ones."
He advised: “Only return to the workplace if it is necessary to do so. Continue to wear a mask, practise social distancing, good hand hygiene and cough etiquette.
— Department of Health (@roinnslainte) May 7, 2021
"If you feel unsafe in a crowded environment feel empowered to turn around and go home.
“If you are a business owner or an employer, remember that you have a duty of care to those that work for you.
"Reopening responsibly will help to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 spreading amongst your staff in the workplace and ensure we all have the opportunity to enjoy the new social and economic activities available to us from May 10th.”
Dublin GP Dr Ray Walley, also speaking at the health briefing today, encouraged people who have been called to register for their vaccine to do so on the HSE portal.
“General practices are extremely busy at the moment dealing with COVID and non-COVID care as well as continuing to administer COVID-19 vaccines," he said.
“GPs continue to administer COVID-19 vaccines as per the National Vaccination Programme, this means that those aged 70 and over and those that are clinically vulnerable between the ages of 50 – 59 are eligible to receive a vaccine from their GP."
"Things are looking up," Colm Henry has a positive update on the COVID-19 situation in Ireland. @NTBreakfast pic.twitter.com/2qqeI8dhaj
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) May 7, 2021
It comes as the HSE's Chief Clinical Officer said that the pace at which Ireland's Covid-19 vaccination programme is rolled out is set to be ramped up "from here on out".
Dr Colm Henry told Newstalk Breakfast: "As we now go into age cohorts, we really are shifting gears up, that's when the mass vaccination centres are opening up, 35 at this stage I think coming this week and that's when we start doing things at pace and at speed.
"It's really going up a gear from here on out because apart from some additional groups we have to identify and vaccinate, notably people that are pregnant and those who are hard to reach, these are the last specialised groups we have to get to.
"When we get to those mass vaccination centres that are now opening up for those age cohorts we can really put the gears up."
