Eighteen more deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported, along with 683 new cases of the virus.

This brings the total number of deaths in the Republic to 4,628, while the total number of cases now stands at 232,164.

Of the 683 new cases, 308 occurred in Dublin, 68 in Donegal, 49 in Kildare, 35 in Meath and 30 in Offaly.

As of 8am on Wednesday, there were 329 patients with confirmed COVID-19 in hospital, 76 of whom were in ICU. There had been an additional 18 hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

As of March 21, 680,015 doses of the COVID vaccine had been administered. Over 184,000 people have received both of their two doses.M

Meanwhile, the HSE has announced the temporary establishment of five new walk-in COVID-19 testing centres - four in Dublin and one in Offaly. Each centre is located in an area where the number of cases is particularly high.

These centres are for people who are over the age of 16 and do not have symptoms of COVID, but would like to be tested. They do not have to have a GP referral to attend, however they must live within 5km of the test centre and they cannot have tested positive for the virus in the last six months.

"Around one in five people have no symptoms of COVID-19 and can spread it without knowing. We would urge people living near a walk-in test centre and who are concerned about COVID-19, to get a free test today.

"Testing people with no symptoms will help us find positive cases earlier and allow these people take the necessary action to protect others. This will help us break chains of transmission," explained the HSE's national lead for test and trace, Niamh O'Beirne.

The test centres will be open from March 25 to March 31, from 11am to 7pm. Social distancing measures will apply and people must bring photo ID and provide a mobile phone number, which your results will be sent to.

The HSE said its aim is to carry out 300-500 tests per day at each of the five centres.

The five centres are located at:
-the National Aquatic Centre in Blanchardstown, Dublin 15 (D15HT9N)
-Tallaght Stadium, Dublin 24 (D24FNK6)
-Irish Town Stadium, Dublin 4 (D04KN77)
-Grangegorman Primary Care Centre car park, entrance off North Circular Road, beside TUD campus (D07VPT0)
-Tullamore Leisure Centre, Offaly (R35A594)

If you have symptoms of COVID-19, you should not attend a walk-in centre. You should immediately self-isolate and call your GP. All tests, whether in the walk-in centre or following a GP referral, are free of charge.