The majority of patients in hospital with Covid-19 do not have any symptoms of the virus according to a recent review.
The study carried out by the Infections Diseases Society of Ireland across nine hospitals found most Covid patients did not require supplemental oxygen, suggesting current infections are less severe than those associated with previous waves.
As reported by The Irish Times, the review included data from 453 patients on January 11th, representing 42 per cent of patients in hospital with the virus on that day, with unvaccinated people significantly overrepresented among the most ill patients.
The society noted that just 191 (42 per cent) of the patients were showing symptoms of Covid, while 322 (71 per cent) were not on oxygen therapy.
Of those not receiving oxygen therapy, only 27 (8 per cent) were unvaccinated, while 42 (32 per cent) of the cohort on oxygen or ventilation had not been inoculated. "This is a significant over-representation of patients who were unvaccinated being treated for severe Covid-19," the review stated.
The findings come as there were 1,023 patients in hospital with the virus as of 8am on Friday, 92 of whom were in ICU.
Meanwhile, HSE chief executive Paul Reid has said he is "cautiously hopeful" that the number of Covid cases in hospitals are levelling out.
He added ICU numbers were also remaining steady but warned it would be next week before it could be determined if figures were lowering.
