A further 17 deaths of Covid-19 patients have been reported by the National Public Health Emergency Team. Fifteen of the deaths date from February and one from December.
Those who died ranged in age from 50 to 92 years, and the median age was 80.
This brings to 3,948 the total number of deaths in the pandemic in the Republic. Nphet also reported 788 confirmed cases of the disease, bringing to 209,582 the total number of cases.
Hospital Report
Of the new cases, 315 were in Dublin, 61 in Galway, 59 in Meath, 42 in Louth and 33 in Kildare, with the remaining 278 cases spread across all other counties. The median age of cases was 31 years and 71 per cent were under 45.
The 14-day incidence of the disease has fallen from 277 cases per 100,000 people nationally. Monaghan has the highest county incidence, followed by Carlow.
On Sunday, 899 Covid-19 patients were hospitalised, up one on the previous day. This included 160 in ICU, down 11. There were 34 additional hospitalisations in the previous 24 hours.
As of last Thursday, 261,073 doses of Covid-19 vaccine had been administered in Ireland; this includes171,239 people who have received their first dose and 89,834 who have have received a second dose.
Earlier, a further 176 individuals in Northern Ireland were reported to have tested positive for Covid-19 in the previous 24 hours, the Department of Health there said.
A further 11 deaths have also been reported. One of the deaths took place outside the reporting period.
It brings the total number of deaths linked to the virus in Northern Ireland to 1,996.
Meanwhile, the DUP have said there is “value in exploring” a two-island approach by Ireland and the UK to international travel as part of the pandemic response.
The party's leader in Westminster, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, said there was a lot of scope for co-operation in the Common Travel Area that operates between the two islands.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said last week that preliminary discussions on such an approach have begun with the UK government.
Asked about an approach that would encompass the five jurisdictions of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic, Mr Donaldson said: "I think there is value in exploring that, yes."
He told Newstalk's On The Record with Gavan Reilly: "As I've said it needs to be done on a United Kingdom and Common Travel Area basis.
“I think there is a lot of scope for co-operation on the whole question of the Common Travel Area. Certainly, in terms of international visitors coming in to the Common Travel Area, there is scope for greater co-operation.”
The UK have recently announced strict new mandatory hotel quarantine measures for passengers arriving from 33 “red list” countries.
Penalties of up to £10,000 or 10 years in prison have been introduced for those who try to conceal that they are travelling from a red list country.
The Irish Government has announced its own list of 20 red list countries but swerved such severe penalties for non-compliance.
At a press conference last week, Mr Varadkar backed a two-island approach.
He said: “The best thing I think we can do is try to co-ordinate. Because if Northern Ireland is a back door to the Republic of Ireland, Ireland is a backdoor to Britain and to England.
‘Strong advocate’
“The best thing we can do is work together on this, and I’m a strong advocate of the two-islands strategy, Britain and Ireland, as much as we can, aligning and working together.”
Mr Donaldson criticised the Irish Government’s failure to share data with the Executive on passengers arriving into the Republic, who may be travelling on to Northern Ireland.
He said: “With respect, it’s not just about Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
“It’s about the United Kingdom as a whole, and the Republic of Ireland, because we know at the moment there are difficulties, for example in data sharing, which normally happens under the Common Travel Area.
“The northern Executive has been waiting for over 10 months for the Irish Government to agree to share data on people who have entered the Republic of Ireland, through ports or airports, and are travelling on into Northern Ireland.
“So with the greatest of respect, the difficulty here is not unionists in the Northern Ireland Executive.
“I suggest you ask the relevant Irish Government Minister, why, over 10 months later, on foot of a request from the Northern Ireland Executive for the sharing of data, we are still waiting for the Irish Government to approve that request.” – additional reporting: PA
