THERE ARE 1,285 people with Covid-19 being treated in hospital, with HSE chief Paul Reid said that going off current trends “it will rise more”.

There have been an additional 134 admissions since this time yesterday.

Paul Reid said: “Saving lives and protecting more people getting sick is our priority. But, in time, the huge sacrifices everyone is making will work.”

Yesterday morning, 1,180 people with Covid-19 were in hospital, of which 109 were in ICU. There were 116 further hospital admissions in the previous 24 hours. 

On Thursday, hospitalisation figures topped 1,000 for the first time during the pandemic. HSE CEO Paul Reid described it as a “sad milestone”.

Yesterday an agreement was reached between the HSE and 16 private hospitals to provide additional capacity if necessary during the next 12 months.

Earlier this year, the government reached an agreement with private hospitals to use all of their facilities during the Covid-19 crisis. The deal cost taxpayers about €115 million a month.