The situation facing hospitals in the Republic is "stark", with people of all ages being admitted, and being taken into intensive care, the chief medical officer has said.

Dr Tony Holohan appealed to people to "consider your choices and make the right ones" this week.

"The levels of infection are such that your chances of transmitting or getting COVID-19 are very high, and we know that a proportion of those cases will lead to serious illness and mortality.

"There is no group who should feel the public health advice does not apply to them. It is only if we act together that we can keep ourselves, our loved ones, and health and social care facilities safe," he commented.

He urged people not to go into work this week if they can work from home and he called on employers to facilitate remote working for employees where possible.

Dr Holohan made his comments on Sunday evening after a further 13 deaths and 2,944 cases of COVID-19 were reported.

This brings the total number of deaths here to 2,608 and the total number of cases to 172,726.

Of the 2,944 cases, 1,065 occurred in Dublin, 306 in Cork, 181 in Galway, 180 in Kildare and 160 in Limerick. The median age of those affected was 40 years.

Among the 13 deaths reported, which all occurred this month, the median age of those who died was 83 years, while the age range was 66 to 97.

More information on the latest figures in relation to COVID-19, including the number of people vaccinated so far, is available here.