The number of people with Covid-19 in hospitals has increased by almost 200 per cent over the past month, official figures show.
There has been a surge in the prevalence of the virus in recent weeks, which has largely been attributed to the highly transmissible BA. 4 and BA. 5 variants.
The variants are sublineages of the previously dominant Omicron variant, and now account for around 90 per cent of cases.
However, while the variants are believed to be more transmissible and vaccine evasive, there is no evidence to suggest they are linked to a greater severity of the disease.
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As of 8am on Sunday morning, there were 987 patients with the virus in Irish hospitals. This was up from 355 one month ago, June 10th, an increase of 178 per cent.
The numbers continue to grow with 133 new admissions in the past 24 hours, compared to 47 discharges. About three-quarters of recent hospital admission with the virus are people aged 65 or older.
The number of patients in intensive care with the virus has remained relatively stable despite the recent surge. However, there is often a lag between a rise in hospital admissions and a rise in the number in ICU.
There were 38 people with Covid-19 in ICU on Sunday morning, one more than the highest figure last week, during which time the number fluctuated between 32 and 37.
Public health chiefs have said only about half of those with Covid-19 are being specifically treated for the virus, with the others being asymptomatic carriers.
Demand for testing has also increased with the latest surge. There were 41,291 PCR tests carried out in the seven-days up to July 8th, up from 40,307 in the week ending June 25th. The seven-day positivity rate for PCR tests stood at 38.1 per cent as of Friday, according to HSE figures.
This proportion has been increasing steadily since May, but signs are beginning to show that it may be beginning to decrease. The rate was 38.2 per cent on Thursday and 38.4 per cent on Wednesday.
Dr Colm Henry, chief clinical officer at the Health Service Executive, has said the country was nearing the peak of the current wave of infections. Ireland was now in week four or five of a six-week plateau, after which case numbers in the community are expected to decline, he said last week.
