A further 777 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the Republic, as well as seven more deaths.

This brings the total number of cases here to 55,261, and the number of deaths to 1,878.

Of the 777 cases today, 182 occurred in Dublin, 81 in Galway, 44 in Wexford, 42 in Meath and 41 in Cork.

As of 3pm on Friday, there were 319 people in hospital with confirmed COVID, 37 of whom were in ICU. There had been 24 additional hospitalisations in the previous 24 hours.

The chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan, pointed out that 15,000 people have been diagnosed with the virus in the last 14 days.

He appealed to people "to behave as though you are a close contact".

"Stay at home, other than for essential reasons. Now is the time to use our reserves of energy and dig deep in our efforts to follow the public health advice - keep your distance, wash your hands and wear a face covering. Play your part to break the chains of transmission across families, neighbours and communities," he said.

He also reminded anyone with a recent diagnosis of COVID-19 to self-isolate for 10 days "to protect the people they live with, the people they love and the people in their communities".

"Self-isolate means stay at home, stay in your room as much as possible, stay away from other people, including those in your household.

"If you live with someone who has COVID-19 or you have been told that you are a close contact, you must restrict your movements for a full 14 days. Stay at home, don't go to work, don't go to school," Dr Holohan added.

The 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 of the population in the 14 days up to midnight on October 22 was 306.1 nationally. However 11 counties were above this national average, with Cavan the worst affected, at 1,058.1 per 100,000, followed by Meath (661.9), Westmeath (451.7) and Monaghan (408.9).

The counties with the lowest 14-day incidence rate were Tipperary (126.6), Wicklow (143.2) and Kilkenny (174.3).

The entire country is now at level 5 of the Government's COVID-19 plan. For more information on level 5 restrictions, click here.