The criteria for Covid-19 testing are being broadened from this morning, to include more suspected cases of the virus.
Now those with either a fever, a recent cough, or shortness of breath can look for a test.
A further 18 people with Covid-19 have died, bringing the death toll to 1,102, while there are now 19,648 confirmed cases.
Chief medical officer Tony Holohan says there'll be an increase in cases this week, with the testing changes.
"We have seen a lot of cases being confirmed in the last week, that's been driven in a signficanct way but he numbers of people being diagnosed in the nursing home and community residential sector sampling programme that's underway at the moment.
"But there's still a background rate in the general population of infections.
"When we change the course definition in the course of this week we will see more referrals, we will see more testing and I expect to see more cases arising from that."
