A further 17 people with COVID-19 have died in the Republic.

One death that had previously been classed as COVID-related has been denotified, so the total number of deaths now stands at 1,631.

Meanwhile, 73 new cases of the virus have also been confirmed, bringing the total number of cases here to 24,803.

Data from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre has shown that of the 24,730 cases reported by midnight on May 25, 3,251 have been hospitalised and of these, 399 have been admitted to ICU.

Some 7,891 cases are associated with healthcare workers, while Dublin continues to have the highest number of cases in the country - 11,961 - which is 48% of all cases.

According to the Department of Health's chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan, to date, 90% of people with confirmed COVID-19 have recovered. However, he insisted that "we cannot afford to stop the hard work involved in suppressing this virus".

"COVID-19 is a new disease. Ireland and the world understand more about the virus now than we did at the outset of this crisis. What we do know is that hand washing, social distancing and knowing when to self-isolate do work.

"These measures are the most effective tool we have to keep this virus suppressed and keep up this recovery rate. We know that the vast majority of Irish people understand this, and that they are staying the course with us as we continue to keep case numbers as low as possible," he commented.

The department's deputy chief medical officer, Dr Ronan Glynn, emphasised that "what we do today has a direct effect on tomorrow".

"In order to prevent any second wave of COVID-19 from occurring, we need to remain vigilant and cautious. Continuing to follow the core public health advice is the best way to protect our most vulnerable now and in future," he said.

Meanwhile, speaking earlier in the Dail, the Minister for Health, Simon Harris, said that the reproduction number (R0 or r-nought) for the virus is now between 0.4 and 0.5.

The R0 represents how many people the average person with the virus is likely to infect in a completely susceptible population. The higher the R0, the faster the disease spreads. For example, an R0 of three means that each person with the virus is likely to infect three others. An R0 of one means they are likely to infect one other person.

"This suggests a stable transition, where we have kept this virus under control while moving to the first phase of reopening our society. This and other key indicators do give grounds for cautious optimism," he said.

Phase 1 of the Government's Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business is now in place. For more information on this, click here.