A further 18 deaths from COVID-19 have been reported in the Republic, bringing the total number of deaths here to 2,069.

According to the Department of Health, one of these deaths occurred in October, 15 in November and two are under investigation (the date of death has yet to be confirmed).

Meanwhile 268 more cases of the virus have also been confirmed, bringing the total number of cases here to 72,798. Of these, 73 occurred in Dublin, 20 in Kilkenny, 20 in Limerick, 19 in Louth and 19 in Tipperary.

As of 2pm on Tuesday, there were 224 people in hospital with confirmed COVID, 31 of whom were in ICU. There had been 14 additional hospitalisations in the previous 24 hours.

The 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 of the population in the 14 days up to midnight on November 30 was 87 nationally. However eight counties were above this national average, with Donegal the worst affected, at 211.1 per 100,000, followed by Louth (183.1) and Kilkenny (148.1).

The counties with the lowest 14-day incidence rate were Leitrim (12.5), Wexford (28.7) and Westmeath (29.3). As well as having the lowest 14-day incidence rate, Leitrim also reported zero cases of the virus in the 24 hours up to November 30.

Commenting on the figures, the department's chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan, said that the hard work and sacrifices that have been made by people over the last six weeks means that people can now travel beyond 5km in their counties and non-essential retail can reopen.

"It is up to every person individually to remain vigilant to the spread of this disease, to assess the risk that is involved in any social activity. We need to keep the public health advice at the centre of our minds and do not have visitors to our homes, outside of any necessary visitors in a support bubble, until December 18," he commented.

He added that everyone has a role to play in "shaping the national picture on COVID-19" in next few weeks.

"It is vital that you keep hand washing, wear face coverings and keep a two-metre distance from each other, to protect public health, to protect vital public services and to give us the best chance to continue to minimise the spread of the disease," Dr Holohan added.

The entire country is currently at level 3 of the Government's COVID plan. For more on this, click here.