DUBLIN: Ireland is clearly in the midst of a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and a rapid acceleration in the growth of cases from a relatively low level just days ago is of very grave concern, senior health officials said on Monday.

"This is clearly a rapidly increasing incidence in what is now a third wave happening much, much sooner after the last one," Ireland's Chief Medical Officer, Tony Holohan, told a news conference after reporting a near doubling of the five-day incidence rate of the virus in just four days.

"It's really important that people stay at home. The situation has changed and is changing very, very quickly. We're trying to evaluate things such as the potential role of this new variant of the disease."