Cautious optimism as Covid case numbers continue to fall

Professor Sam McConkey said he is "cautiously optimistic" given the current rate of decline.

A leading infectious diseases expert believes Covid hospital numbers could drop below 100 within the next month.

There were 4,761 Covid-19 cases confirmed today - 1,749 were PCR-confirmed cases while 3,012 people registered positive antigen tests through the HSE online portal.

As of 8am this morning, there are 1,004 Covid patients in hospitals across the country, down 77 on yesterday's figures.

Of those Covid patients in hospital, 53 are in intensive care which is two less than yesterday.

Professor Sam McConkey said he is "cautiously optimistic" given the current rate of decline.

He said a further sharp decline in the number of Covid patients in hospitals likely over the coming weeks.

"A lot of people who have been exposed have had it and in some ways that's a natural booster," said Prof McConkey.

"The BA.2 strain has boosted our immune systems above and beyond even the Covid vaccines so I'm cautiously optimistic that we will see a very dramatic decline in the number of cases in hospitals and in the number of people getting Covid in the next two to four weeks.

"I'm hoping below 500 and I'm hoping it will even go down to double-digit figures, below 100, for example."