Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan is expected to return to his post next week.
Dr Holohan had been on leave for family reasons. In July, Dr Holohan announced he would be stepping back to spend time with his family and to help care for his wife who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
She is understood to be receiving continuing care.
Sources told The Irish Times that Dr Holohan will return to his role next Monday.
Dr Holohan briefed the country in daily National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) during the early stages of the Covid-19 crisis and the national lockdown.
Dr Holohan was in favour of strict restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19 and sources told The Irish Times that his return will strengthen the argument for tougher measures to combat the rising levels of Covid-19 infection across the country.
NPHET meets each Thursday and the group is understood to be imposing Level Three restrictions on additional counties. Dublin and Donegal are currently under Level Three of the Living with Covid-19 plan.
One additional death and 429 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed by the Department of Health yesterday.
Dublin recorded 189 cases, 60 in Cork, 31 in Donegal and 28 in Galway. The remaining cases were spread across 19 different counties.
