A further 63 deaths from COVID-19 have been confirmed, bringing the total number of deaths here to 2,460.

According to the Department of Health, five of these deaths occurred in November, one in December, one is still being investigated and the remaining 56 occurred this month.

A further 3,569 cases were also confirmed, bringing the total number of cases here to 159,144. Of these cases, 1,119 occurred in Dublin, 416 in Cork, 200 in Galway, 182 in Louth and 169 in Waterford.

As of 2pm on Wednesday, there were 1,770 people with COVID-19 in hospital, 172 of whom were in ICU. There had been 133 additional hospitalisations in the previous 24 hours.

According to the department's chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan, the country is making some progress.

"We are seeing some early signs of progress with daily cases numbers and positivity rates. We can take some hope in them, but we have a long, long way to go.

"In the coming weeks ahead, we will need to draw upon our reserves of resilience from springtime as we can expect to see hospitalisations, admissions to ICU and mortality related to COVID-19 increase day on day," he explained.

He said that the best way to support each other at this time is to "stay apart".

"Sadly, what we are seeing now is a result of the very high daily confirmed case numbers we experienced for successive weeks. To ensure our hospitals and loved ones remain protected and stay alive to receive the vaccine, please continue to follow public health advice and stay home," he commented.

However, Dr Holohan also reminded people who need acute care "that hospitals are there for those that need them".

"No one should ignore any worrying signs they may need medical attention, such as lumps, chest pain or other new symptoms. Phone your GP if you have any concerns, not just those related to COVID-19," he said.