The Taoiseach has said that Covid-19 is "with us for the long term" as cases begin to rise amid fears of a new summer wave.
There were 574 people in hospital with the virus as of 8am this morning, with 23 people being treated in intensive care units.
An Taoiseach Micheal Martin has urged people need to be "vigilant" but said there is no need for restrictions or any measures right now.
Read more: Leading Covid expert warns Ireland is facing a 'summer wave' as cases continue to rise
Mr Martin said: "The public advice at the moment is not to go down that particular route, but we have to take on board that cases are rising so people have to be vigilant.
"People should wear masks if they feel that it protects them and if they're of a view that that's in their best interests, but it's personal responsibility at this particular point in time.
"Covid is with us for the longer term
"What I would appeal to people is to get vaccinated, particularly those who have been recommended for a fourth vaccine.
"Please get vaccinated because we know vaccination works in terms of preventing serious illness and death and that's the key message that I would have today - get vaccinated - to people who are not vaccinated or haven't taken their fourth vaccination."
Read more: Covid-19 Ireland: Department of Health renews masks advice as hospital cases rise
Meanwhile a DCU Professor of Immunology spoke to RTE earlier this week and said Ireland is entering a summer wave of Covid-19 and that it’s hard to know the exact figures at the moment.
Speaking to Brendan O’Connor, Professor Christine Loscher said there may be as many as 10,000 daily cases thanks to the highly transmissible BA.4 and BA.5 strains.
“We have just seen what Portugal has been through,” she said.
“They have had an uptake in cases, but they seem to be on the decline now. It was a relatively short three- or four-week period where BA.5 took off and because it is more transmissible, they had more cases.
“We're not really going to know how many cases we have because we have quite restrictive PCR testing at the moment.”
In line with the startling figures at the moment, Loscher said that we already have the tools to prevent the spread, one of them being mask-wearing in certain settings.
“It is not complete prevention,” she said, “but it is a very good tool. I travelled recently and I was one of four people on the plane wearing a mask.”
The INMO also wants a return to mandatory mask-wearing on public transport in particular.
Read more: Leo Varadkar warns rising Covid cases could be sign of 'summer wave'
Sign up to the Dublin Live Newsletter to get all the latest Dublin news straight to your inbox.
