The State's Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan says he is concerned that some people believe the worst of the COVID-19 crisis is behind us.
Figures released today showed 15 more patients with the virus have died, bringing the death toll to 1,467.
A further 139 cases have also been confirmed, meaning there are now 23,135 recorded cases in the country.
Meanwhile, new research commissioned by the Department of Health shows 43% of people think we are over the worst of the outbreak.
It compares to 29% who believe the worst of the crisis is 'happening now', and 17% who say the worst is still ahead of us.
Photo: Leah Farrell/Rollingnews.ieDr Tony Holohan said the figures are a cause for concern.
He said: "We think there's still a challenge for us in getting the message out.
"43% is quite a high percentage of people who believe this is over, and the work is done here... that's just a little cause for concern that we have."
With health officials hoping to begin easing restrictions over the coming weeks, Dr Holohan said there's still a chance that they could 'get it wrong'.
43% of people now believe that the worst is behind us with regards to #COVID19. Dr Tony Holohan explains that this is a cause for concern. pic.twitter.com/UwY1cmcg2Q
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) May 11, 2020
He said the country has done a great job in suppressing the virus and keeping the number of cases down.
However, he warned there's still the risk of infection rates creating a challenge "that's every bit as great as the challenge we might have had had we not gotten this as controlled as we did over the last two months".
The Department of Health research - which included responses from 1,270 adults - also shows a majority of people continuing to follow public health advice.
That includes 95% of people washing their hands more often and 90% social distancing in queues.
