The Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has announced the establishment of the new Covid-19 Advisory Group to replace the National Public Health Emergency Team.
It will be chaired by Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan.
Members of the new group include Professor Luke O'Neill from Trinity College Dublin.
Deputy CMO Dr Ronan Glynn, HSE CCO Dr Colm Henry and Prof Philip Nolan will also be members of the group.
The Department of Health said the group will monitor the Covid-19 situation, as well as emerging evidence regarding technologies, practices and interventions.
They will also advise the Government on responses that might be necessary to respond to the threat of the virus.
Minister Donnelly said: "I am delighted to announce the Covid-19 Advisory Group and its membership today. This very excellent group includes a wide range of expertise. Our hospitalisations are falling at present, which is reassuring. However, Covid-19 remains a threat and there is no way to know for sure what lies ahead. We need to be prepared. The Covid Advisory Group will make best use of national expertise, international data and evidence.
"I would like to thank the members of the group for volunteering their time and energy to Ireland’s ongoing response to this pandemic."
New Covid-19 advisory group members
Chair: Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn
Chief Clinical Officer of the HSE Dr Colm Henry
Chair of the IEMAG Prof Philip Nolan
Chair of the HIQA Covid-19 Expert Advisory Group Prof Máirín Ryan
Chair of the AMRIC Dr Eimear Brannigan
Director, HPSC Dr Derval Igoe
Regional Director of Public Health Dr John Cuddihy
General Practitioner Dr Tadhg Crowley
President RCPI Prof Mary Horgan
Consultant Microbiologist Dr Anne Rose Prior
Consultant in Infectious Diseases Prof Paddy Mallon
ESRI Behavioural Research Unit Prof Pete Lunn
Director, National Virus Reference Laboratory Dr Cillian de Gascun
Professor of Physical Chemistry Prof John Wenger
Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry Dr Anne Moore
Professor of Biochemistry and Immunology Prof Luke O'Neill
Professor, Chair in Comparative Immunology Prof Clíona O’Farrelly
Head of Health Protection Division, DOH Mr Fergal Goodman
Representative of the Department of An Taoiseach - to be confirmed
Earlier, there were 5,883 new Covid-19 infections confirmed by the Department of Health.
These include 2,845 PCR-confirmed cases and 3,038 positive antigen tests notified on the HSE portal.
This is down 45% compared to the 10,839 positive cases reported last Friday.
The Health Protection Surveillance Centre warned that coronavirus numbers in Ireland "remain high" despite the decreases in cases in recent days.
It said that during the week between 27 March and 2 April, there were 33,671 new infections reported through the PCR system.
This is a decrease of 34.9% compared to the previous week when there were 51,722 confirmed Covid-19 cases notified.
A total of 41,718 positive antigen test results were registered on the HSE portal in the same week.
This is a decrease of 47.93% compared to the week before, when 80,114 cases were registered.
People in the 35-44 age group had the highest incidence rate with 20.9% of all cases notified.
The county with the highest incidence rate during that time period was Carlow with 874.7 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 population.
Northern Ireland today reported 983 positive cases and five further Covid-related deaths.
There were 1,182 Covid-positive patients in hospitals this morning of whom 58 were in ICU.
It comes as the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation reported that 447 admitted patients are waiting for beds this morning.
The INMO Trolley Watch found that 360 of these patients are waiting in the emergency department, while 87 are in wards elsewhere in the hospital.
Meanwhile the latest figures from the National SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Surveillance Programme found that in the week beginning 27 March, the viral load for Covid-19 increased from 10% to 50% in 40 of the 67 catchment areas.
A further 13 had an increase of more than 50%.
The viral load remained stable in the remaining catchment areas.
Elsewhere, Shanghai announced a record 21,000 new cases and a third consecutive day of Covid testing as a lockdown of its 26 million people showed no sign of easing.
It led to Chinese cities tightening curbs - even in places with no recent infections.
