Twenty-seven more people have died from Covid-19 in Ireland bringing the overall death toll to 1,429.
156 more cases of the coronavirus have also been diagnosed in the Republic, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 22,541.
It was also confirmed at today's briefing that clusters of Covid-19 have been confirmed in 10 meat processing facilities across Ireland.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said that a total of 566 cases have been confirmed.
He said HSE outbreak control teams have been put in place for each of those clusters and a national outbreak control team will be taking a range of actions to mitigate and prevent onward spread including production of guidance for the meat processing facilities.
Dr Glynn also confirmed that there were three more clusters of Covid-19 infection identified in direct provision Centres.
He said as of midnight last night 12 clusters had been identified, which was an increase of three since Saturday night.
He confirmed that there were a total of 149 cases, up from 88 on Saturday, and 12 had been hospitalised, two more people since Saturday.
The Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said that ramping up testing in direct provision centres and meat processing factories is currently being considered.
Dr Holohan said "we do want some of the testing capacity that is available in the HSE being made available to some of those kinds of sectors, direct provision, the challenge that we've had in meat factories and some other locations".
However he added that the "specifics of who gets tested and where" was currently being considered by the HPSE.
Dr Holohan provides an age breakdown of the overall number of confirmed cases and deaths so far, with 120 cases confirmed among children under the age of four | Live updates: https://t.co/cZpmOJlY19 pic.twitter.com/CBE8JRKb6r
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) May 8, 2020
On the issue of the Leaving Certificate, Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan said that the Department of Education had "followed public health advice" in deciding to cancel the exams and had provided clarity for students.
In relation to schools reopening in September Dr Holohan said "if things go well" he would hope to be in a position to see that happen but it was impossible to predict at this point in time.
Today's data from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, as of midnight on Wednesday 6 May (22,301 cases), shows that 57% of the diagnosed cases are female and 43% are male.
The median age of confirmed cases is 49 years.
2,915 cases (13%) have been hospitalised and of those hospitalised, 373 cases have been admitted to ICU.
Of all the cases, 6,586 are associated with healthcare workers.
Dublin has the highest number of cases at 10,885 (49% of all cases) followed by Kildare with 1,312 cases (6%) and then Cork with 1,199 cases (5%).
Dr Holohan said: "Analysis of multiple data sources shows a continuing high level of compliance with public health measures.
"As we prepare for the next stages of living with this virus, we are learning new norms and behaviours, particularly how we interact in public spaces.
Physical distancing, hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette, safe interactions apply to all if we are to keep Covid-19 suppressed in Ireland."
In Northern Ireland, another five Covid-19 related deaths have been reported by the Department of Health.
It brings the total number of deaths in the region to 427.
There has also been an additional 38 cases of Covid-19 diagnosed in the North, taking the total of confirmed cases to 4,022.
Around 80% of cases of Covid-19 will be a mild to moderate illness, close to 14% have severe disease and around 6% are critical.
Generally, you need to be 15 minutes or more in the vicinity of an infected person and within two metres of them, to be considered at-risk, or a close contact.
The latest figures come as this summer's Leaving Cert exams have been cancelled, with Minister for Education Joe McHugh revealing details of an alternative plan.
All students are to be offered the option of accepting calculated grades instead of sitting Leaving Certificate written examinations at a later date in new plans announced this afternoon.
Mr McHugh said he had made every effort to run the Leaving Cert as close as possible to the way they were originally intended.
But he had compelling evidence based on medical advice and other assessments that it would not be possible to hold the exams in a reliable and valid manner and in a way that would be equitable for students.
Teachers are being asked to give students marks for each individual component of a subject, for example coursework, written papers, or an oral or practical examination.
Read more:
'Very little prospect' of pubs reopening in June - CMO
Covid-19 impacting people's well-being and relationships
5 things we've learned about this year's Leaving Cert
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for April, as measured by the Covid-19 adjusted measure, jumped to a new record high of 28.2%, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show today
The CSO said the Covid-19 crisis continued to have a significant impact on the labour market here in April.
The new Covid-19 Adjusted Unemployment rate rose sharply to 28.2% from 15.5% in March.
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The jump came after the number of people claiming the higher emergency payment more than doubled to 602,107, on top of a seasonally adjusted 216,900 on regular jobless benefits.
The adjusted unemployment rate does not include 427,400 more workers on a wage subsidy scheme for impacted companies, where the state agreed in March to pay 70% of wages up to a maximum of €410 a week for an initial 12-week period.
Ireland needs to 'finish the job' in Covid-19 battle - Harris
He said while there are many positive indicators, the virus is continuing to wreak havoc, to cost lives and to make people very sick and it would not take much for the country to slip backwards and undo the "incredible progress" that's been made.
Minister Harris said he is worried that when people hear about the progress that is being made in relation to the disease they will believe the battle is won,
But, he said, the country needs to "finish the job".
He was speaking was during a visit in to a Community Assessment Hub at the Mater Hospital in Dublin, which is one of 40 that have been opened around the country to deal with Covid 19.
The minister said there are fewer new cases of Covid-19 being recorded every day in nursing homes compared to last month, with figure previously around 100 a day but is now down to around 50.
