The Department of Health has been notified of 1,571 further Covid-19 cases.
There are 307 people being treated with the virus in hospital, which is down 11 from yesterday.
The number of Covid patients in intensive care stands at 55, down five.
The Chief Medical Officer told RTE News that there is an “extremely high incidence” of the coronavirus circulating in communities.
Dr Tony Holohan that on average 1,814 confirmed Covid-19 cases have been reported per day for the last five days, and that the 14-day incidence rate is now 526 per 100,000 population.
He has appealed to people to continue wearing face coverings in indoor settings.
“Mask wearing is a simple and effective way of breaking the chains of transmission. If you are infected but do not have symptoms or have yet to develop symptoms, you can still spread the virus to others.
“Face masks help reduce this risk. By wearing a mask, you protect those around you. In January 2021, 94% of people reported wearing face masks in public places, and 93% in February and in March. As of this month, that figure has dropped to 84%.
“Please, continue to wear a mask in indoor settings like retail, on public transport and in restaurants and in crowded outdoor settings. This remains a simple but important measure that we all can take to prevent this virus spreading in our communities.”
Meanwhile, the Chair of NPHET’s Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group said that there is a “significant and slowly increasing burden of disease in the population”.
Prof Phlip Nolan told a briefing at the Department of Health that the burden of the disease is currently and going to present a challenge to the health service for “some weeks to come”.
He said the good news is that vaccination is offering very high levels of protection.
He said that 90% of the population or more have had their first vaccine dose. However, Prof Nolan said that when you look at the number of people who are one or two weeks beyond their second dose, therefore with immune protection, it is 75% of the adult population.
He said it is less than 50% in those aged 16-29 who have that maximum protection.
“In that context we need to be concerned that we keep the disease under control over the coming weeks.”
Prof Nolan said that there is a dynamic difference between this wave of the virus and previous waves, during which there was a rapid exponential rise and a rapid exponential decline, brought about by stringent public health restrictions.
He told the briefing that we are now dealing with “a long slow wave of disease, which is going to last some considerable number of weeks”.
