Concern is growing in Europe that the possibility of a summer wave driven by two new Covid strains is becoming a reality.
Germany is currently experiencing a new wave of infections, prompting its health minister to reintroduce the requirement to wear face masks indoors to reduce transmission.
"The announced summer wave [of Covid-19] has unfortunately become reality," Health Minister Karl Lauterbach told a German newspaper on Wednesday.
He said that the effect of the summer to calm the surge in infections has not been as effective as usual “because the current virus variant is very easily transmitted and because almost all precautionary measures have expired". Minister Lauterbach also urged the most vulnerable to get their fourth vaccination jabs.
Germany’s seven-day incidence rate of new Covid infections per 100,000 people reached 472.4 on Wednesday.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control predicted last month that there could be a new Covid wave driven by the increase of the BA.5 and BA.4 variants.
This comes as the number of patients in Irish hospitals with Covid-19 has begun to grow again, rising to 477 on Wednesday, with 26 people in ICU.
Admissions have almost tripled in three weeks since they reached their lowest point, of just 167 people in hospital with Covid, on May 28. Additionally, 28.3% of people who tested for Covid on Wednesday were returning positive results.
The HSE's Chief Clinical Officer Dr Colm Henry said this week that he was concerned about the rising number of people being hospitalised with the virus.
He warned that people could be reinfected with Covid as two sub-variants of Omicron, BA.4 and BA.5 variants, are "becoming more widespread because of their ability to escape immunity".
Dr Henry warned: "We are concerned certainly at the increasing hospitalisations. What we are seeing is people reinfected after getting previous variants.
"It is all the more reason to encourage people over 65 and the immunocompromised to get their second booster."
