Dr Tony Holohan says it has become 'a whole population issue' and has appealed to every individual, family, household and workplace to act on public health advice.
It comes as a further 811 new cases of the virus have been confirmed including 141 in Cork.
Cavan has overtaken Donegal as the newest hotspot, after 22 new cases gave it an incidence of 412.2 cases per 100,000 in the last 14 days.
But Professor Emer Shelley from the Royal College of Physicians says it's not just an issue for border counties:
