There has been a major acceleration of Covid 19 cases in the past 72 hours as Ireland enters a wave of the Omicron variant of the virus.
Chief Executive of the Health Service Executive Paul Reid warned that in a worst case scenario the country could be facing a potential 20,000 cases a day.
However, the HSE boss people have the power to change the trajectory of the virus by following public health advice and if the booster campaign continues at pace.
Optimistic modelling estimates case numbers at around 8,000 a day, he said.
He was speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
Mr Reid said early evidence seems to indicate that Omicron is a less dangerous variant but it is highly transmissible – over five-and-a-half times more transmissible than Delta.
He also warned that it is early days and there is more to be learned about the variant and added that the concern is the volume of case loads it could result in, and the strain this could put on the health system.
It is early days, but the results of studies into the risk of hospitalisation from the Omicron variant are positive, HSE chief executive Paul Reid has said.
Mr Reid said that significant extra resources are being put in place in hospitals, the health care system, testing centres and the vaccination drive.
