A summer wave of the Covid-19 virus is being experienced right across the country at the minute.
And with cases continuing to soar and hospital numbers increasing, one top doctor warned that Covid is coming '"back with a vengeance".
Dr Francis O'Hagan, a GP and the deputy chair of the Northern Ireland general practitioners committee, told UTV: "Many people are surprised, a lot of people think, 'Oh [Covid has] gone away'. But it hasn't, it's here and it's here with a vengeance at the minute."
READ MORE: Professor Luke O'Neill in grim restrictions prediction as pandemic 'not over'
Here are five things you need to know about Covid in Ireland today:
How many Covid-19 cases are there in Ireland at the minute?
In the latest figures, a total of 13,584 people tested positive following a PCR test and a further 17,643 registered a positive result after a home antigen test last week, in the week up until Wednesday, June 29.
As of 8am on Sunday, the number of patients with Covid-19 in hospital reached 826 - of which 32 of those were in the ICU. This shows a steady 36% increase from two weeks ago on June 20 when there were 606 patients with Covid-19 in hospital.
The positivity rate has now reached 36.2% meaning over a third of people who take a Covid test come back with a positive result.
What is causing the spike?
The surge in cases is mostly driven by the highly transmissible BA4 and BA5 variants, which account for the vast majority of current infections in Ireland.
Dr Cillian de Gascun, Director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, told RTÉ's This Week programme that people who have previously been infected with other variants of Covid do not have protection against these variants. He said this is because the BA4 and BA5 variants are "sufficiently different" from the BA1 variant that was rampant in December and January this year.
Will there be more restrictions brought in?
Earlier this week, Cabinet Ministers signed off on new laws allowing the Government to bring back mandatory mask-wearing in certain settings. However, at this point it is understood that no specific settings are being considered and that this is simply a “precautionary move.”
But Professor Luke O'Neill, a professor of immunology at Trinity College Dublin, thinks things could change by the winter. Speaking in the Sunday Independent he said he believes there may be a need for further restrictions than just masks in the colder months.
"As winter approaches, and we get to the next four-month surge, which is likely to be worse than the current surge, there may well be the need for a mask mandate," O'Neill said. "There may also be a need for other measures, such as an order to work from home."
What is the Covid situation in Europe?
Almost all countries in Europe are seeing a rise in cases at the minute with the highest incidence rates recorded in Austria, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg and Portugal.
The World Health Organization said that infections rose by about 32% in Europe last week.
Speaking to AFP, WHO Europe regional director Hans Kluge, said that the virus will not go away and will transmit at "high levels" in Europe this summer.
What is the advice if I test positive for Covid?
According to the existing rules for those suffering from Covid-19, you should start to self-isolate as soon as you develop any known symptoms or get a positive antigen test result.
How long you need to self-isolate depends on the results of your test. If you get a positive result from an at-home test or a professionally administered PCR you need to self-isolate (stay in your room) for 7 full days. You can stop isolating after 7 days if you have had no symptoms for the last 48 hours.
When you stop self-isolating, you need to take extra care for another 3 days to reduce the risk of passing Covid-19, however, after your 7 days of quarantine, you can go back to your normal activities.
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