524 new cases of Covid 19 have been confirmed this afternoon (Friday).
There are no local figures or information on covid deaths again today in the wake of the HSE cyber attack.
107 patients are being treated for the disease in hospital, of which 38 are in ICU.
72 cases of the Indian variant have been identified in Ireland, and NPHET is closely monitoring variants of concern in other countries.
Dr Tony Holohon says the variant may pose a risk to the progress we have made, and will be keeping a close eye on this as they consider the advice they need to provide the government, on any further easing of restrictions.
The Chief Medical Officer says the strain from India is the most worrying since the UK variant;
“In broad terms, you could characterise it as the sky is, for the most part, blue- but there’s a black cloud on the horizon, which is the Indian variant” he explained. “We are genuinely concerned about the reports we’re seeing and the credibility that we attach to them around the increased transmissibility of that particular variant. This is only underscoring our concern- this is the most concerning that I think we’ve had since we saw the original emergence of the B-117.”
