A further 1,914 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed as HSE chief Paul Reid has said that the recent rise on Covid numbers was “not a panic button”, but a signal of early warning.
As of 8am today, there were 413 Covid-19 patients hospitalised, of whom 73 are in ICU.
The National Public Health Emergency Team has said that the five-day moving average now stands at 1,685.
The lifting of most remaining restrictions on October 22nd is still in doubt amid rising infections and hospital admissions.
However, Ministers are set to push for a partial easing of restrictions next week which would see vaccine passports remain a requirement for entering venues and premises.
The chair of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (Niac), Professor Karina Butler has said that the “real elephant in the room” was the high level of unvaccinated people in the country as 80 per cent of Covid patients in ICU were unvaccinated.
