A record 16,428 cases of Covid have been recorded today.
It comes as accident and emergency departments struggle to cope with the numbers presenting with the virus.
There are now 568 people in hospital, up 47 form yesterday with 93 of these in ICU.
There have been 22 deaths recorded in the past week bringing the total number of Covid-related deaths here to 5,912.
The Chief Medial Officer has expressed concern and “every individual should consider themselves potentially infectious”.
Dr Tony Holohan said hospital admissions are at levels not seen since January, with more than 100 patients admitted with Covid-19 or detected with the virus on two consecutive days.
He said the Omicron variant is “accelerating rapidly in the community”.
“Given the very high levels of transmission of this new variant nationwide, every individual should consider themselves potentially infectious, and strictly adhere to the public health measures by washing hands regularly, keeping a safe distance from others, avoiding crowded places and reducing social contacts as much as possible,” Dr Holohan said.
The CMO acknowledged the 92% uptake of the vaccine as well as the booster roll out as defences from Covid-19.
“The best way for all of us to stay safe and to continue to protect our loved ones over the coming weeks is to keep your social contacts as low as possible, avoid high risk activities and continue to follow all of the public health measures that we know can stop the spread of COVID-19,” he said.
Dr Holohan said for anyone who has travelled from overseas to spend time in Ireland, it is important that they “take an antigen test every day for five days”
“If you are planning to visit retail environments in the coming days, please choose retailers that adhere strongly to the public health guidance and leave any environment that feels unsafe,” he added.
“The current levels of infection we are experiencing mean that shopping in crowded environments, where physical distancing is not possible, should be seen as a high-risk activity and should be avoided unless absolutely essential – especially by those who are not yet fully vaccinated and boosted,” he said.
