A further 1,413 cases have been announced this evening.

This morning there were 290 coronavirus patients in Irish hospitals – a 12% drop on this day last week.

There were 67 on intensive – up two on yesterday and 24% on last week.

The five-day moving average has fallen to 1,304.

The five-day moving average. Image: Newstalk

It comes after NPHET gave the go-ahead for the planned easing of restrictions on Monday.

The changes include a further relaxation of restrictions on group activities and the phased return to workplaces.

Indoor group activities will be able to ahead with capacity limits of 100 people provided everyone is fully vaccinated, recovered from COVID or under the age of 18 and accompanied by an adult.

Where groups include unvaccinated people, they will be limited to pods of up to six participants. The number of pods permitted is dependant on the size of the venue.

All restrictions on outdoor activities will be removed; however, there will be no change to limits on crowd sizes at events.

Meanwhile NPHET said that from the end of the month, children who are close contacts should no longer need to be tested or to self-isolate provided they are not showing any symptoms.

It recommended that the same rules be introduced for unvaccinated adults by the end of October.