The Department of Health has confirmed 5,483 new cases of Covid-19, in what Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan has called "one of our highest ever daily figures of confirmed cases".
RTÉ News understands that tonight's figures include a backlog of around 1,200 cases from the past few days.
In a post on Twitter, the department said: "Of these [5,483 cases], 98% were positive tests on specimens collected in the three days prior to their notification to The Health Protection Surveillance Centre.
"There is always a short time lag between positive tests on a particular day and cases notified and validated on the CIDR surveillance system.
"There is currently no specific delay in processing time or backlog of laboratory diagnoses."
There are 549 patients in hospital with the virus, up six on the same time yesterday. Of these, 96 people are being treated in ICU, a decrease of one from yesterday.
There have been 18,877 cases reported over the past five days of this week.
Dr Holohan said this was another indication of the very significant increase in the incidence of disease in almost all age groups across the population.
"As we look ahead to the weekend, we need to continue to make every effort we can to drive down incidence of disease and break the chains of transmission," he said.
"Before you leave the house, think about the number of people you are going to meet, and the risk associated with the activities you have planned."
Dr Holohan added the importance of keeping contacts low and avoiding crowds, wearing a mask correctly and avoiding poorly ventilated indoor spaces.
He also encouraged people to meet outside if possible and practice good hand and respiratory hygiene.
"If you have any symptoms of Covid-19, you should assume that you have this virus, self-isolate immediately and arrange a test. Do not assume that it's just a cough or a cold," he said.
Meanwhile, the Sinn Fein Health spokesperson has said today's Covid numbers are "a real cause for concern" - despite the lag in the reporting of 1,200 cases.
David Cullinane said that the Government needed to consider reinstating working from home guidance, and the "much promised" Winter Plan for hospitals needs to be published and actioned.
Mr Cullinane said: "We also need a plan and timeframes for a roll-out of a general population booster jab when appropriate.
"Everything possible must be done to keep people safe, avoid hospitalisations and protect our health services."
It said this was due to extremely high numbers of attendances to emergency departments and the urgent care centre.
They say if anyone is scheduled for an in-patient or day case admission during this time, the hospital's admission team will contact them directly prior to their scheduled date.
In a statement, the organisation confirmed that all out-patient appointments will proceed as scheduled.
Meanwhile, the HSE lead for infection control and antimicrobial resistance has warned that the Covid-19 vaccine "doesn't make you bulletproof".
Professor Martin Cormican said that the vaccine has provided a "floodwall for Ireland", but people still need to adhere to public health guidelines.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Prof Cormican said: "The vaccine is really important and it has made a huge difference to the risk of people ending up in hospital or in ICU, and it does reduce your risk of getting infection to some degree, but it doesn't make you bulletproof."
He added that after the vaccine "you're much less likely to end up in ICU, you're much less likely to end up in hospital, but you can still get infection".
Prof Cormican also warned that a negative antigen test does not mean that a person who is feeling the symptoms of a virus can still go on a night out.
He said: "Before you think about doing your antigen test, the first thing to do is ask yourself are you feeling well, because if you've got symptoms of a viral respiratory tract infection, you shouldn't go anywhere and the testing doesn't matter in that sense.
"If you've got symptoms of a viral respiratory tract infection, it could be Covid, it could be flu, it could be any one of a number of viruses and you should stay at home."
He said that his "key message" would be to think about the risk.
Earlier, the director of public health at HSE Mid-West said the rate of Covid-19 infection in the region has doubled in the last month.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Dr Mai Mannix said that over 3,500 cases of the virus were identified in the midwest between 27 October and 10 November.
She said cases are rising in all age groups, except among the over 85s who have starting receiving booster shots.
Dr Mannix said that 65% of those being treated in ICUs for Covid-19 are unvaccinated.
In Northern Ireland, a further two patients who had previously tested positive for Covid-19 have died.
Another 1,087 cases of the virus were also notified by the Department of Health.
This morning, there were 397 Covid-positive patients in hospital, with 34 in intensive care.
The Deputy First Minister has urged the public to make good choices when it comes to public health to avoid facing another lockdown.
"We're watching the situation very closely, our cases remain high so we have to keep a very, very close eye to that," Michelle O'Neill said.
"We want to avoid any situation again where we move into a lockdown scenario, that's why we have launched today a new campaign around protect yourself, protect your family, make good personal choices around keeping yourself safe."
Additional reporting PA
