The Republic of Ireland’s Health Minister Simon Harris said people must guard against any sense of invincibility as 43 more people died.
He said: “Maybe in the last couple of days we’ve heard a growing commentary that it’s only people of a certain age or only people with certain conditions – it’s not.
“We’re all vulnerable to this virus, so we must remain cautious and we must remain vigilant as individuals and together as a country.
“I know that people want us to map out what the next phase looks like for Ireland, and we will tomorrow.
“But we’ve got to get the timing right. Moving too quickly will set us up for failure and that failure will have real human consequences, devastating consequences that we’re all too aware of.”
The total number of deaths now stands at 1,232, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre said on Thursday evening.
Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said a “sizeable” number were in intensive care.
“They are still big numbers,” he said.
He added: “There is a risk that if further spread of the infection were to occur we would get into difficulties sooner than if we had lower numbers to make our recommendations.”
Mr Holohan said the number of ICU admissions had fallen quite a bit over recent days.
As of 11am on Thursday April 30, the HPSC has been notified of 359 new confirmed cases.
Mr Harris said the country has saved more than 3,500 lives by complying with the coronavirus measures.
Mr Harris also said the Covid-19 reproductive rate remains between 0.5 and 0.8.
He added: “Between three to four people every day are being admitted to intensive care units, the sickest patients in our country.
“We must finish the job. If we want to give this country the very best chance of success, we must continue with the work.
“If we want to continue to save lives, we must stay united, we must stick together.
“I understand the fatigue that people are feeling at this stage, I really do.
“We’re all human and denying ourselves of many of the things that are most intrinsic to our very humanity.”
The Republic has played down hopes of a swift easing of social distancing restrictions.
Professor Philip Nolan, chairman of the National Public Health Emergency Team Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said: “To understand the importance of our next steps, we should look back to the pattern of the epidemic at the beginning of March.
“Within 10 days, we went from 50 people in ICU to 140 people in ICU.
“Currently, there are 106 patients in ICU.
“If a similar surge occurred on top of our current ICU figure, we would find it very difficult to manage the treatment of patients.
“This reflects the sensitivity required in relaxing restrictions.”
A near lockdown on movement was implemented in Ireland in mid-March, some days before the UK took similar measures.
Mr Harris said the overall target for testing is 100,000 per week which will operate for a minimum of six months starting from mid-May.
He added: “The HSE has developed the road map as to how we can rapidly reach that capacity. It has the full, unequivocal support of my department.
“Significant progress has been made in a very short space of time to develop our testing capacity.
“The scale of this effort and the pace at which capacity is being developed cannot be understated.
“I know there’s been bumps in the road, but I want to thank the people that have worked so hard to get us to this point, to build these systems because huge progress has now been made.”
