Calls for the reintroduction of some Covid restrictions have been made after the latest data showed that almost 64,000 new cases of the virus were recorded in the past five days.
The number of patients being treated in hospital has risen to the highest level since last year, with 1,308 people now hospitalised with Covid, 49 of whom are in ICU.
A further 172 people were admitted on Sunday night, with just 29 patients discharged. However, despite the spike in cases, the number of patients in ICU has remained relatively stable.
Read more: Covid Ireland: Almost 65,000 cases confirmed since St Patrick's Day amid concern about new variant
Over the bank holiday weekend, a total of 63,954 Covid cases were diagnosed through PCR and antigen testing dating between Thursday, March 17 and Monday, March 21.
St Patrick’s Day saw 5,231 positive PCR tests and 8,322 antigen tests registered on the HSE’s online portal.
Friday, 5, 628 positive PCR tests and 6,313 antigens, with a further 4,787 PCRs on Saturday and 6,774 positive antigen tests.
On Sunday, 5,067 positive PCR cases were recorded and 7,177 antigen tests, with the Health Protection Surveillance Centre being notified of an additional 4,024 PCR cases and 10,361 antigen cases on Monday.
The increase in cases has caused the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) to call on the HSE to declare the current overcrowding experienced in hospitals as an emergency situation until Easter and has asked the Government to consider the reintroduction of some restrictions.
INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “We have been ringing the alarm on this situation for far too long. We are not in a space in which our health service can cope with 570 patients on trolleys coupled with such high numbers of patients in our hospitals with Covid-19.
“The Government must now revisit their decision on mask-wearing in indoor and crowded settings. There is a clear link between reduced transmission and mask wearing. Removing the mask requirement in congregated settings, particularly with poor ventilation, is clearly having a detrimental impact in our hospitals.”
Ms Ní Sheaghdha also criticised the lack of ventilation in hospitals. She said between February 28th and March 6th, a total of 129 Covid outbreaks were recorded, 116 of which were in healthcare facilities.
“Air hygiene in hospitals is poor, Covid is an airborne pathogen, and despite all the evidence, the HSE has attached very little urgency to the very real need for the introduction of hospital-wide air filtration and measurement systems,” she said.
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris said the Government would be keeping a close eye on the situation but said there is currently no proposal before Government on changes to mask use.
Speaking on Monday, he said: “I think it’s very clear what we’re seeing in relation to the numbers of people who are getting Covid in our country and in terms of the number of people in hospital with Covid 19… it is very clear that Covid hasn’t gone away.
“This is a pandemic that we’re likely to be living with for the foreseeable future. This is a virus that we know continues to morph and evolve, and the best and brightest brains in our scientific and medical community are working around the clock to try and keep ahead of it.
“But we are in a very different situation. We are living in a country where people have had three vaccines and, in some cases, four, and we’re seeing the real benefit of that in terms of protecting people’s health and in terms of protecting people’s lives.
“So I do think we’re now very much in a place where we’d have to continue to live, live our lives in a world where Covid is present. And I think we’re all very aware after two, two and half years of talking about the various things that we can all do to try and keep each other safe.
“There’s no current proposal before Government in that regard (mask use) to the very best of my knowledge. This is about people being vigilant in relation to their own situation.”
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