The Minister for Health confirmed the news on Wednesday.

Ireland's R number is now between 0.7 and 0.9, according to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly. The R number is the current reproduction rate at which Covid-19 is transmitted, meaning that the number of people that one infected person will pass on a virus to, on average, is somewhere between 0.7 and 0.9. Speaking at the Health Committee, Donnelly said that the decision to move to Level 5 two weeks ago was made due to evidence showing the rapid increase in case numbers, and that the country is already seeing the benefits of the decision. He said: "By moving early and comprehensively, Ireland is currently bucking the trend being seen in many other parts of Europe." In further positive news, Donnelly said that testing capacity in the HSE has now been increased to 140,000 a week, up from 120,000 However, he also spoke about how the country must not complacent despite the positive figures, explaining that there has been almost 11,000 cases reported in the past 14 days, and that we must continue to actively suppress this virus. Tuesday evening saw Ireland report five further Covid-19 deaths, as well as 322 new cases. A further update will take place later on Wednesday.