A further 1,012 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the Republic, as well as three more deaths.

The total number of cases now stands at 41,714, while the total number of deaths stands at 1,824.

Of the 1,012 cases, 71% are in people under the age of 45. Some 241 occurred in Dublin, 112 in Cork, 80 in Cavan, 72 in Meath and 66 in Galway.

The Department of Health's chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan, said he is "very worried about the numbers we are seeing and how quickly they are deteriorating".

"The 14-day incidence rate has increased from 108 per 100,000 last Sunday to 150 per 100,000 today (Saturday), which represents a 39% increase.

"All of the important indicators of the disease are deteriorating. For example, there has been a consistent increase in test positivity over the past week. The test positivity rate up to midnight Friday, October 9, was 6.2%, which has more than doubled in less than a fortnight," he explained.

He emphasised that case numbers are growing "across all age groups and throughout the country".

According to deputy chief medical officer, Dr Ronan Glynn, over the last 24 hours, there have been 35 new admissions of laboratory confirmed cases to hospital and four new admissions to ICU.

"There are now 199 people in hospital and 31 in ICU. Every age group, location and household needs to act now, limit your contacts and stop the disease in its tracks," he said.

Meanwhile, 902 further cases were also confirmed in Northern Ireland earlier today, but no further deaths.

The entire country is currently in level 3 of the Government's COVID action plan. For more information on this, click here.