Some 63 new Covid deaths have been notified to the HPSC in Ireland over the last week.
It comes as 5,677 PCR-confirmed cases were announced in the last 24 hours with a further 5,578 people registering a positive antigen test through the HSE portal.
As of 8am today, 627 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of whom 68 are in ICU.
The encouraging trend of less and less people catching the virus comes ahead of NPHET meeting next week to make a recommendation on masks and the remaining Covid rules.
At the moment masks are still required on public transport, in crowded places and while shopping.
But the Taoiseach did say last week that he believes things will change in the coming weeks, Mr Martin said: "I think we'll review that before February 28. I personally am comfortable wearing it on public transport and in shops, but I think more and more there will be a personal decision.
"People will make a call as to what they feel comfortable doing. That applies to a lot of things, not only masks, and will depend on people's perspective.
"We know that Covid is particularly difficult in the dark winter. There may be rationale if there is an outbreak in the future for mask-wearing in order to protect people."
