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A further 222 people had died of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours in Ireland, bringing the country's death toll to 1,014, according to figures released on Friday by the Irish Department of Health.
The department also reported another 577 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the day, bringing the total cases to 18,184.
Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer with the Department of Health, said in a Friday statement that "Every indicator to date suggests that the growth of this disease has either stabilized or suppressed."
"It shows that when public health advice is followed, we can suppress this virus in the long term," he said, urging the public to keep sticking to the restrictions announced by the government to fight against the pandemic.
Earlier in the day, Dublin Bus, a public bus operator in the Irish capital, reported notable increases in people using its services.
Commenting on the phenomenon, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar appealed for people to keep abiding by the current COVID-19 restrictive rules.
"People breaking the rules should bear in mind the consequences...it could be having to extend the current lockdown for two to three weeks," local media quoted him as saying.
The Irish government virtually locked down the country by announcing a "stay-at-home" order towards the end of last month.
The order, which will remain in place until May 5, forbids people from leaving their homes unless under special circumstances such as going outside for essential work or for buying food and medicine.
