Sixteen more people have died from Covid-19 in Ireland bringing the overall death toll to 174.

A further 370 cases of the coronavirus have also been diagnosed in the Republic.

There are now 5,364 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

There are now 103 confirmed cases in Donegal.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said 11 of the 16 deaths took place in the east of the country, and five in the west.

The patients who died included six females and ten males. Four of the patients had underlying health conditions.

In Northern Ireland, seven more coronavirus-related deaths were announced today bringing the total number of fatalities in the region to 70.

There has also been 69 new cases of coronavirus confirmed in the North, bringing the total number of cases there to 1,158.

Around 80% of cases of Covid-19 will be a mild to moderate illness, close to 14% have severe disease and around 6% are critical.

Dr Holohan said the number of clusters of cases in nursing homes is of concern.

He said there is continuing transfer of the virus in these settings and there is an "urgency" to address this and to work with the nursing home sector to do this.

He said the National Public Health Emergency Team is working with the Health Information and Quality Authority to address the issue.

Generally, you need to be 15 minutes or more in the vicinity of an infected person, within 1-2 metres, to be considered at-risk or a close contact.

The number of people dependent on income supports has soared to over 700,000, according to the latest figures from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.