PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS have confirmed 1,627 new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

As of 8am today, 415 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 70 are in ICU.

Yesterday, there were 2,066 new cases of Covid-19, 408 people with the virus in hospital and 69 in ICU.

An additional 26 deaths were announced yesterday, bringing the total number to 5,306 since the beginning of the pandemic.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said the growth rate of the epidemic has accelerated in recent days and that all indicators of Covid-19 are pointing towards a deteriorating disease trajectory nationally.

“We are seeing an increase in incidence in all age groups, including older age groups. The national incidence is now 415/100,000,” said Glynn.

“As a result, we are seeing an impact on our hospital system with an average of 50 people being admitted to hospital per day (up from 35 per day at the end of September) and 5 admissions to intensive care per day.

It’s important that anyone who is fully vaccinated is reassured that vaccines give very good protection from Covid-19. However, when incidence of disease is high, we will see breakthrough infections in vaccinated people – most people’s experience of infection will be mild, but some will end up in hospital and intensive care. We want to avoid that.

“Please continue to protect yourself by adhering to the public health advice. This will stop the spread and drive down incidence of Covid-19 in our communities.”