A further 52 deaths from COVID-19 have been confirmed, along with 866 new cases of the virus.

Of the 52 deaths, 33 occurred in February, 12 in January, six in December and one is still under investigation.

This brings the total number of deaths here to 3,846.

Of the 866 new cases, 281 occurred in Dublin, 63 in Galway, 56 in Kildare, 47 in Meath and 39 in Cork. The total number of cases now stands at 206,801.

As of 8am on Thursday, there were 984 patients with confirmed COVID-19 in hospital, 172 of whom were in ICU. There had been an additional 44 hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

As of February 8, a total of 242,353 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had been administered - 154,900 first doses and 88,453 second doses.

According to the Department of Health's deputy chief medical officer, Dr Ronan Glynn, NPHET is "cautiously optimistic about the epidemiological situation across the country".

"This positive momentum has been achieved through the dedication of people across the country in recent weeks. However, incidence and mortality rates are still very high, and the significant risk of community transmission of the virus remains, especially for those most vulnerable to COVID-19 infection," he commented.

He urged people to continue to stay at home and to work from home where possible.

According to Prof Philip Nolan, chair of NPHET's Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, the fact that the HSE has, in the last week, begun to test close contacts of confirmed cases again, "is a positive move".

"It clearly shows that we are back in the containment phase of this pandemic. However, the positivity rates among household contacts is quite high, close to 30%.

"This is a timely reminder to us all to immediately isolate ourselves if we have any symptoms, to protect those most important to us. We should also continue to limit our social contacts. Do not visit another person's household unless you are providing essential care," he said.

More information on the latest figures in relation to COVID-19, including the number of people vaccinated so far, is available here.