Ireland is to return to full level 5 restrictions for at least one month, the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, has confirmed.

People are being asked to stay at home unless they must travel for work, education or other essential purposes, such as providing care to vulnerable people. Exercise must take place within 5km of home.

There are to be no social or family gatherings in homes or gardens from December 30 and all non-essential retail, such as clothes shops, will close on December 31.

Schools, which were scheduled to reopen on January 6, will not now reopen until January 11.

The restrictions were agreed at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday afternoon in response to the huge growth in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.

A further 1,718 cases were confirmed on Wednesday, along with 13 more deaths. This brings the total number of cases here to 90,157, and the total number of deaths to 2,226.

According to the Department of Health's chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan, Ireland "is no longer in a containment phase and is once again in a mitigation phase".

"Given the current levels of transmission in the community, every individual should consider themselves potentially infectious. It is essential that we all limit our contacts to our own household now, restrict our movements and do not give COVID-19 any further opportunities to spread," he commented.

According to Prof Philip Nolan, chair of NPHET's Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, the reproduction number of the virus remains "very high".

"It is currently estimated at 1.6-1.8. The growth rate is estimated to be 7-10% per day with a doubling time of seven to 10 days. We must take action immediately to prevent an almost unimaginable scenario, where case numbers in seven to 10 days time are twice what they are today. Stay home," Prof Nolan said.

Announcing the latest return to full level 5 restrictions, the Taoiseach said that the current situation is "extremely serious". While acknowledging that the "end is in sight" because of the vaccination programme, he warned that COVID-19 "can still do immense damage until we have progressed much further" with this programme.

For more information on the full level 5 restrictions, click here.