A further 866 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the Republic, as well as six more deaths.

This brings the total number of cases here to 60,297, while the total number of deaths is now 1,902.

Of the 866 confirmed cases, 242 occurred in Dublin, 166 in Cork, 56 in Donegal, 54 in Galway and 44 in Meath.

As of 2pm on Wednesday, there were 328 people in hospital with confirmed COVID, 43 of whom were in ICU. There had been 15 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 October 26 was 292.1 nationally. However 11 counties were above this national average, with Cavan the worst affected, at 753.5 per 100,000, followed by Meath (561.9), Westmeath (404.4) and Sligo (401.3).

The counties with the lowest 14-day incidence rate were Tipperary (145.4), Wicklow (148.1) and Kilkenny (170.3).

Earlier on Thursday, the CEO of the HSE, Paul Reid, said that the HSE "remains very apprehensive as we face into the winter".

"There are definitely some positive trends, however while it should offer encouragement, I think it is fair to say that it's far too early to call what we are seeing at the moment a sustainable trend," he commented.

For more information on level 5 restrictions, which apply to the entire country, click here.