The Acting Chief Medical Officer has appealed to everyone to follow public health advice and only meet up with people from one other household at any given time.
Doctor Ronan Glynn said the situation across the country is of serious concern, and we must now limit the opportunities the virus has to spread from person to person.
The 470 new cases of Covid-19 reported on Friday is the highest daily number since the end of April. 198 cases were in Dublin, but the remaining 272 were spread across 24 other counties.
Doctor Glynn said the situation nationally is now a matter of serious concern. The head of NPHET's epidemiological modelling group, Professor Philip Nolan, said the virus has been growing exponentially since July.