PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS have confirmed an additional 16,428 cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

As of 8am, 568 people were in hospital with the virus, 93 of whom are in intensive care.

The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) said that there had been 22 deaths notified in the past week, bringing Ireland’s total to 5,912. Last week, there were 55 deaths notified.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan says that all current epidemiological indicators are a “cause for concern”, and that hospitalisations have been rising in recent days at levels not seen since January 2021.

“In recent days, we have seen a rise in new admissions to hospital of COVID-19 patients, at levels not seen since January 2021. On two consecutive days this week, over 100 patients with COVID-19 were either admitted to hospital or received a “detected” test result while in hospital,” said Holohan.

Today, we are also reporting our highest ever number of confirmed cases in Ireland. The Omicron variant is accelerating rapidly in the community and given the very high levels of transmission of this new variant nationwide, every individual should consider themselves potentially infectious, and strictly adhere to the public health measures by washing hands regularly, keeping a safe distance from others, avoiding crowded places and reducing social contacts as much as possible.

“The best way for all of us to stay safe and to continue to protect our loved ones over the coming weeks is to keep your social contacts as low as possible, avoid high-risk activities and continue to follow all of the public health measures that we know can stop the spread of COVID-19.”

He also encouraged anyone who has travelled to Ireland from overseas to take an antigen test every day for five days to help prevent the spread of the virus.

Holohan said that people planning on visiting shops in the coming days should choose retailers that adhere to public health guidelines.

“The current levels of infection we are experiencing mean that shopping in crowded environments, where physical distancing is not possible, should be seen as a high-risk activity and should be avoided unless absolutely essential – especially by those who are not yet fully vaccinated and boosted.”

The CMO also encouraged people to receive their booster jab when it becomes available, saying that it is the best protection against severe illness.

“The COVID-19 vaccine and the vaccine booster provide good protection from COVID-19 infection. If you are not yet fully vaccinated or are yet to receive a booster dose, please take the vaccine as soon as it is available to you.”

According to the Department of Health, due to anticipation of high case numbers over the coming days, daily case numbers will be based on the number of positive swabs uploaded to the HSE Covid Care tracker on the previous day.

The Department has said that these figures are provisional.

Yesterday, 9,006 new cases of the virus were reported. There were 521 people in hospital with the virus on Monday, 92 of whom are in intensive care.