A further 1,167 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed, along with three additional deaths.

This brings the total number of cases here to 53,422 and the total number of deaths to 1,868.

Of the 1,269 cases, 263 occurred in Dublin, 142 in Meath, 137 in Cork and 86 in Cavan.

As of 2pm on Wednesday afternoon, there were 314 people with confirmed COVID-19 in hospital, 34 of whom were in ICU. There had been 27 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 20 was 291 nationally. However 12 counties were above this national average, with Cavan the worst affected, at 1,013.4 per 100,000, followed by Meath (652.7), Monaghan (389.3), Westmeath (370.6) and Sligo (366.2).

The counties with the lowest 14-day incidence rate were Tipperary (116.6), Wicklow (121.5) and Waterford (160.1).

The chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan, emphasised that the behaviour of every individual "is the most effective defence we have against the spread of COVID-19".

"Everyone needs to stay at home, other than for essential reasons. Follow the public health advice and treat everyone that you come into contact with as though they are a close contact of someone with COVID-19 - keep your distance, avoid meeting others.

"We are facing a big challenge, but we have faced this challenge before, and that means we know how to suppress this virus, by following the public health advice in everything we do," he said.

The entire country will be moving to level 5 of the Government's COVID-19 plan at midnight on Wednesday. For more information on level 5 restrictions, click here.