The latest Covid figures are out.
13 further Covid-19 deaths have been confirmed, as well as 938 new cases.
This brings the total number of Covid-related deaths here to 2,184 while there have been 82,155 confirmed cases.
The regional breakdown showed 300 people tested positive in Dublin, with 110 in Cork, 72 in Limerick, 68 in Donegal, 41 in Kildare and the remaining 347 cases spread across 21 other counties.
The number of people in ICU is 15, down three from yesterday.
Doctor Cillian de Gascun confirmed that the new Covid variant that has been found in the UK is definitely now in Ireland. However, he also said that it is not solely responsible for the increase in case numbers.
He said: "Preliminary data would suggest, based on a selection of samples analysed from the weekend, that the novel variant from the UK is present in Ireland.
"However, given the timeline of the samples analysed, it would seem that the novel variant is not solely responsible for the recent increase in case numbers seen in Ireland."
Earlier on Wednesday, Northern Ireland's Department of Health reported that 787 further individuals have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.
Sadly, a further 21 deaths have also been reported up north (though nine of the deaths are outside reporting period).
The HSE announced earlier that people who have arrived in Ireland from the UK since 11 December should eat Christmas dinner in their room as part of self-isolation measures to combat the potential spread of a new variant of Covid-19
