Community assessment hubs across the country will begin accepting their first patients this week.
The HSE said 12 to 15 of the hubs will be in place by the end of the week.
The facilities provide supports for people who need to self-isolate, those who are sick and people who are awaiting a test result.
The first was opened at the Citywest Hotel in Dublin last week.
HSE Chief Operations Officer Anne O'Connor said anyone experiencing symptoms should contact a GP.
“These hubs will be based in our primary care centres,” she said.
“They will be open seven days a week from 8am to 8pm.
“People will be referred by their GP; they will not be places that people will turn up to. The idea being that we will adhere to all the correct control procedures.
“However, they will provide for timely assessment of people who feel they are symptomatic.”
She said the hubs will reduce the pressure on doctor’s surgeries and hospitals.
COVID-19
It comes after a further 38 COVID-19 related deaths were confirmed over the weekend, bringing the total in the Republic to 158.
Meanwhile, 691 new cases were confirmed on Saturday and Sunday, bringing the total to 4,994.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan at a COVID-19 briefing in the Department of Health, 02-04-2020. Image: Sam Boal/RollingNewsContact tracing
On Breakfast Briefing with Andrea Gilligan this morning, Professor Anthony Staines Professor of Chair of Health Systems Research at the School of Nursing in DCU said the health service must significantly increase its contact-tracing for the virus.
“I hope that what they will do is they will ramp up contact tracing activities,” he said.
“At the moment we are only contact tracing people that have confirmed infections and when we have such delays in testing, I think that is a high-risk strategy.
“So, I think they will bump up contact tracing so we are tracing people with symptoms.”
Intensive care
As of Friday night, 165 COVID-19 patients had been admitted to intensive care.
Just over one quarter of the confirmed cases are associated with healthcare workers, while 236 clusters involving 903 cases have been identified across the country.
Some 53% of the confirmed cases are women and 56% of them are in Dublin.
Public health
The Health Minister Simon Harris said it is crucial that people continue to follow public health guidelines.
“There are some encouraging signs and I have talked to you about them before,” he said.
“There are many worrying signs as a well. People are losing their lives in Ireland, families are grieving; some people are very sick in hospital
“We need to keep at it. We need to stay the course.
“So please, please, please do everything that you possibly can this week. Right back to the basics.”
Doctor
Meanwhile, the has re-registered as a medical doctor.
Leo Varadkar left the medical register in 2013, after serving as a doctor for ten years.
Last month the HSE had called for healthcare workers who had left the register to return to the workforce to help with the Covid-19 pandemic.
