Three more deaths related to COVID-19 have been confirmed, as well as 525 new cases of the virus.

This brings the total number of deaths in the Republic to 4,422 and the total number of cases to 223,219.

Of the 525 new cases, 214 occurred in Dublin, 37 in Meath, 28 in Offaly, 28 in Limerick and 25 in Wicklow.

As of 8am on Sunday, there were 423 patients with confirmed COVID-19 in hospital, 103 of whom were in ICU. There had been an additional 14 hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

The 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 of the population up to March 6 was 172.3 per 100,000, however nine counties were above this figure, with Longford the worst affected (381.7), followed by Offaly (342.5) and Westmeath (264.7).

The lowest 14-day incidence was in Cork (57.1 per 100,000), followed by Kilkenny (61.5) and Kerry (65).

Meanwhile, the President, Micheal D. Higgins, has signed the Health (Amendment) Bill 2021, into law. This provides for a system of mandatory quarantine at designated facilities for people travelling from high-risk countries.

According to the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, this is "another important element of Ireland's defence against COVID-19".

"The operationalisation of designated quarantine facilities is being advanced on a cross-departmental basis as a matter of priority. The next step in this process is to finalise and sign a contract with a service provider. I anticipate this will happen shortly," Minister Donnelly said.

The Government continues to advise against all non-essential international travel and a range of statutory measures are in place to reinforce this policy.

Passengers travelling to Ireland from certain designated states must complete a full 14-day quarantine period. For more information on travelling to Ireland during the pandemic, click here.