There have been 744 more confirmed COVID cases

Today, there have been 744 more confirmed COVID cases and there have been 4 more deaths.

The two previous days were above 1,000 cases daily but Dr Tony Holohan believes there are more in the community than whats' reported.

He believes the lower number is due to the lack of tests done over Christmas and Stephen's Day. Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said: “Stay home, do not visit friends or family unless you are providing essential care and do not have visitors to your home. Follow the public health advice.” Of those cases today, 246 in Dublin, 131 in Cork, 51 in Limerick, 40 in Wexford, 33 in Donegal, and the remaining 243 cases are spread across 19 other counties. As of 8 am today 324 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 26 are in ICU with 50 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours. Yesterday, the first 10,000 doses of the vaccine arrived in Ireland and will be rolled out from Wednesday.