137 new local cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the past 24 hours.
4,962 more cases were reported nationwide last night- 84 of those are in Kilkenny, and 53 are in Carlow.
The Chief Medical Officer is warning that the current infection trends are not sustainable for the health system.
There are fears the HSE may not be able to provide tests to people with symptoms due to demand, instead focusing on vulnerable groups.
Yesterday there were 673 people in hospital with the virus – a rise of 86 percent in a week.
Public health expert, DCU Professor Anthony Staines says there may be a need in the future to cancel elective surgeries and transplant operations;
“No one is in hospital with Covid-19 who does not need to be there. Not a soul” he claims. “Some of these people are very ill, and tragically some of them will probably die. But our hospital system hasn’t got space. It does not have the capacity to cope. We can do it, but only by stopping, essentially, everything else. That has its own price in terms of health.”
