HEALTH MINISER STEPHEN Donnelly has warned that the number of people in hospital and intensive care units with Covid-19 will continue to rise in the coming weeks.

Donnelly spoke to reporters this evening, ahead of a meeting of the Cabinet sub-committee on Covid-19.

The sub-committee is meeting amid growing concern about the situation in hospitals around the country and the rapid spread of the coronavirus in communities.

“Cases are continuing to rise rapidly. The pressure on our hospital system, including ICU, continues,” Donnelly said.

We have received new modelling, just in the last few hours, which suggests that the cases, hospitalisations and ICU will continue to rise in the coming weeks.

The health minister also indicated that the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) is set to recommend an extension to Ireland’s booster programme.

“I am expecting additional advice this evening from NIAC.

“I’ll confirm it later when we have it, but the indications are it is positive in terms of adding significant additional number to those who would be availing of boosters.

“The evidence from the boosters is incredibly strong.

“We have about 1.4 million people already greenlighted for the boosters and working with the HSE it is all hands on deck, in terms of getting them all out.”

The Covid committee is discussing recommendations from the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), including that the government should consider reinstating advice to the public that they should work at home where possible. 

NPHET also said that the reimposition of social and economic restrictions was not currently being recommended but “cannot fully be ruled out”. 

The meeting comes as the number of people in hospital with Covid-19 reached its highest level since February.

The latest figures from the Department of Health reveal that 622 people are in hospital with the coronavirus disease, including 117 people in intensive care units. A total of 4,570 new cases of the illness were reported today.

Earlier today, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said “we are in a much different position this year than last year because of the power of vaccination.”

If we didn’t have vaccination, and the level of vaccination that we have, we would be in lockdown right now because of the number of cases.

“And there would have been a far higher conversion to hospitalisation and intensive care and morality, of that there is no doubt,” Martin added.

However, the Fianna Fáil leader added that the health service is under pressure “not just because of Covid, but this year we have a higher level of non-Covid respiratory illnesses.”

The Taoiseach said there were lessons to be learned from other countries, including the UK, in how antigen tests were rolled out.

He said he supported the subsidisation of antigen tests to make them “more affordable”, particularly over winter.

With reporting from Press Association and Christina Finn