The period of self-isolation for people with confirmed COVID-19 has been reduced from 14 days to 10 days.

However, a person should only stop isolating if it has been 10 days since the onset of their symptoms, or 10 days from the date of a test if asymptomatic, and they have had no fever for the last five days.

Furthermore, the quarantine period for a person who has been identified as a close contact of a confirmed case is still 14 days. People who have travelled to Ireland from a country not on the green list must also quarantine for 14 days.

"NPHET has decided to reduce the period of isolation from 14 to 10 days for confirmed cases from the onset of symptoms, based on advice received from the Expert Advisory Group following a review of the evidence.

"COVID-19 is an evolving pandemic and NPHET is committed to adapting advice and guidelines based on emerging evidence," explained acting chief medical officer, Dr Ronan Glynn.

He also confirmed that nasal swabs will now be used to test children for the virus instead of nasopharyngeal swabs, which reach 7cm into the head via the nose.

"This will hopefully make testing a simpler process for children going forward," Dr Glynn said.

As of midnight on September 13, there have been 31,192 cases of the virus confirmed in the Republic, and 1,784 deaths.