The latest Covid figures have been released.
8,248 new Covid-19 cases have been confirmed in Ireland, as well as 20 additional deaths.
There have now been a total of 2,327 Covid-related deaths in Ireland, while 135,884 people have tested positive for the virus so far in Ireland.
Of today's cases, 3,013 are in Dublin, 1,374 are in Cork, 538 are in Limerick, 314 are in Kildare, 310 are in Donegal and the remaining 2,699 cases are spread across all other counties.
As of 2pm today, 1,180 Covid patients are hospitalised across the country, of which 109 are in ICU. 116 additional hospitalisations have occurred in the past 24 hours.
Speaking on Friday, Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan expressed particular concern about a Covid strain associated with South Africa.
He said: "Three cases of a new variant of Covid-19 recently identified in South Africa have been confirmed in Ireland today by whole genome sequencing.
"All of the cases identified are directly associated with recent travel from South Africa.
"We are particularly advising healthcare workers travelling from South Africa, that it is essential that they self-isolate for 14 days before entering/re-entering the workplace."
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly confirmed on Friday evening that everyone in nursing homes will receive dose one of the Covid vaccine within the next 16 days.
Earlier on Friday, the Northern Ireland Department of Health reported that 1,500 further individuals have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.
Sadly, a further 20 deaths have also been reported up north.
