The Taoiseach says Government is keeping a close eye on rising Covid-19 figures.
More than 16,000 positive tests were recorded yesterday and the number of people in hospital with the virus went above 900.
Today the figures dropped by 12 to 895, with 41 patients with Covid in intensive care units.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said many of those are people who have Covid but are not in hospital because of it.
However, he said the Government is keeping a close eye on the figures.
"The problem for hospitals of course is once a person is diagnosed with having Covid, it leads to a whole range of isolation interventions by the hospital and reduces capacity, that is the impact on the hospital service which is problematic in the winter period."
He added: "It is very challenging for hospitals right now, and it will be over the coming weeks, but we're keeping a very close eye on this and we are in close contact with the chief medical officer as well."
