THE NATIONAL Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) met on Thursday to discuss the latest figures surrounding Covid-19 in Ireland.
They gathered to discuss the effectiveness of Level Five restrictions - which were imposed eight days ago around the country, and are set to run until December 1.
While weekly reviews of the situation are to take place among NPHET members, an official Government review will take place in three weeks' time, where restrictions could be extended, reduced or lifted altogether.
A total of 863 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed by the Department of Health in Thursday, 675 cases were confirmed on Wednesday and 720 cases were confirmed on Tuesday.
The number of daily cases has now been below 1,000 for six of the past eight days, and the 14-day incidence rate of cases per 100,000 population has fallen below 300 for the first time in a week to 299.
The latest figures show, however, that there are 327 in hospital with coronavirus, including 40 patients who are currently in intensive care.
Statistically, the spread of the virus appears to be slowing, but Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan, who heads up NPHET, says it's "too early" to conclude that we've turned a corner.
Ireland's reproductive number last week was estimated at between 1.3 and 1.4, and it would need to drop to around 0.5 for the nation to move out of strict restrictions.
