Almost 64,000 Covid cases recorded over St Patrick's weekend

In total, 1,308 people with the virus are in hospital, the highest level it's been at in over a year.

The department of health has confirmed 63,954 cases of Covid-19 from St Patrick's day until March 21.

Today, the HPSC were notified of 4,024 PCR-confirmed cases of Covid in addition to 10,631 positive antigens registered through the HSE portal on Sunday, March 20. 

Over the long weekend, Thursday, March 17 saw 5,231 PCR-confirmed cases and 8,322 positive antigens registered through the HSE portal on the previous day.

Friday, March 18, saw 5,628 PCR-confirmed cases and 6,313 registered positive antigens through the portal on the previous day.

There were 4,787 confirmed cases through PCR testing on Saturday, March 19, while 6,774 people registered positive antigens the previous day. On Sunday, 5,067 people tested positive for the virus through PCR testing and 7,177 registered positive antigens through the portal on the previous day.

Meanwhile, the number of people in hospital with Covid-19 has jumped by 123 in the last 24 hours.

In total, 1,308 people with the virus are in now hospital - the highest level for more than a year.

February 3, 2021, was the last time the figure was higher when 1,366 people were hospitalised due to Covid.

However, the number of people in intensive care with the virus is remaining steady.

Some 49 people are in ICU with Covid, the same number as it was on Sunday and down from 52 on Saturday.

The latest information around how many people have tested positive for Covid over the weekend is due to be announced by the Department of Health later today.

Speaking on Sunday, the Tánaiste said new Covid restrictions are unlikely.

Leo Varadkar said the rate of infection is not causing undue concern, due to high levels of vaccination.

"I think it is another wave," he said.

"What's happening across Europe now is a second wave of Omicron, but I don't think it's going to require the repetition of restrictions."

The head of the HSE said today that 50% of those hospitalised had been admitted with other conditions and when tested it was found that they had Covid-19.

Paul Reid said there had been a “significant increase” in the last 14 days in the numbers being hospitalised. “We are still dealing with a highly transmissible virus.” 

A high percentage of patients were aged over 75 which led to further problems as there were fewer places in nursing homes because of Covid outbreaks.

The health system was under pressure, he said.

While the Omicron variant had a less severe impact, hospitals still had to implement infection controls which put pressure on spaces. Some hospitals had to cancel elective surgeries, but private hospitals were being utilised for elective care.

The higher levels of Omicron in the community had also led to increased levels of staff being absent – 4,200 last week. At the peak between 6,000 to 7,000 were not at work because of Covid. A further 900 staff at nursing homes were also absent because of the virus, he said.

Mr Reid also called on the 700,000 people who are now eligible for their booster vaccination to do so.

These people are now eligible because it has been three months since they had Covid-19 he explained to RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show.

Mr Reid urged the public to “make their own judgement” and to continue to wear masks in congregated settings, on public transport and in care home settings.

'Infection control'

Meanwhile, Bantry General Hospital has said that visiting restrictions remain in place "due to increased infection control measures".

The Hospital issued a statement saying that visiting will only be allowed on compassionate grounds and those visits must be pre-arranged.

It added that all theatre elective surgery has been cancelled and that the hospital will contact each patient individually.

Cancelled appointments are being worked on presently with a view to early rescheduling.

Outpatient appointments and radiology are still running.

"Hospital management has requested that, where appropriate, the public contact their GP in the first instance, and explore all other options available to them, including the Local Injury Unit (LIU), GP or Southdoc out of hours service in the first instance," the statement added.