There have been 436 new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland, the Department of Health confirmed this evening.

The number of people in Irish hospitals with the virus is 101, while there are 39 people in the intensive care unit with the virus.

A media briefing heard that there have been eight Covid-related deaths reported over the past fortnight up to yesterday.

However, the Department of Health is not releasing daily figures of people that have died with Covid-19 due to the disruption to the HSE’s IT systems caused by the ransomware attack.

There are also no county-by-county figures available and the daily totals issued during the ransomware attack are subject to change once the figures are validated in the future.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly told the Dáil yesterday that the trajectory of Nphet advice is “positive”, clearing the way for the continued reopening of society.

However, today Mr Donnelly told the Dáil it is unclear if the Government will reach its target of vaccinating 82pc of the population by the end of June due to concerns about the delivery of vaccines.

He added that half the country’s adult population will have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of this week though.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin will address the nation tomorrow, laying out the pathway for the hospitality sector to reopen, as well as issuing further guidance on increasing attendance at outdoor events later in the summer.

Mr Martin is also expected to update advice on international travel, with late July thought to be the earliest vaccinated people can benefit from the EU’s Digital Green Certificate.

Meanwhile, there is growing concern the Indian variant of Covid-19 may scupper late summer plans for travel abroad, with the virus taking a hold in the UK and continuing to spread in Ireland, with cases of the variant up 25 to 97 in the past week.