More than 40% of cases of Covid-19 in the last two months involve people between the ages of 15 and 34, the acting Chief Medical Officer has said.
Dr Ronan Glynn said the disease caused by the coronavirus is "continuing to spread disproportionately" among young people.
It comes after 334 new cases of Covid-19 were reported by the Department of Health. There were no further deaths associated with the virus reported.
Of today's cases, 174 are in Dublin, which is currently at Level 3 of the Government's Living with Covid-19 plan and is subject to further restrictions as a result.
It brings the total number of confirmed cases nationally to 33,444 since the first one was reported here in late February.
.@GeorgeLeeRTE reports on the latest Covid-19 figures from the Department of Health this evening, as NPHET says the virus is spreading disproportionately among younger people | More: https://t.co/MOZFolbsQq pic.twitter.com/HCpZ8ObX7L
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) September 22, 2020
Dr Glynn said the proportion of cases in younger people was not surprising.
"They are more likely to be moving about in the community, going to school, higher education or work, and keeping our economy and key services going," he said.
"For teenagers and people in their 20s and 30s in particular, I know that what has been, and is being asked of you again is extraordinary.
"This pandemic has impacted on your education, your employment, your relationships and your social lives. The vast majority have done the right thing - have heeded public health advice and kept themselves and their families safe."
He appealed to young people to continue to follow public health advice.
"Be a role model for others. Limit the number of people you meet, maintain 2 metre physical distance, wear a face covering, wash your hands well and often. Together, every safe behaviour counts."
Of the cases announced today, 72% are under the age of 45.
Community transmission accounts for 55 of the cases.
Outside the capital, 34 of today's cases were confirmed in Cork, 30 in Kildare, 18 in Donegal, and ten each in Galway and Louth.
There were six in each of Clare, Mayo, Meath, Roscommon and Waterford, with five in Limerick and the remaining 23 spread across 11 counties.
Earlier, there were 75 new cases of Covid-19 reported in Northern Ireland, from tests on 2,360 people.
It takes the cumulative total of positive test results there to 9,541.
There are no further deaths, so the official Department of Health total for Northern Ireland remains at 577.
Tighter Covid-19 restrictions came into force across Northern Ireland at 6pm this evening.
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It comes as the number of people being treated in hospitals for Covid-19 has risen further to 94, the highest figure since early June. That compares to 90 yesterday.
Of today's cases, 16 patients are receiving treatment in intensive care units, down one from yesterday.
The latest figures show that while 10 people had been discharged from hospital over the last 24 hours, there were 14 new admissions.
On this day last week, there were 65 people in hospital with the virus, of which 13 were in ICU.
The latest HSE figures also show that there were 283 adult ICU beds opened and staffed as of last night. 241 of the beds were occupied.
The vast majority of the cases were non-Covid related, while 20 of the critical care beds were reserved for patients. It means there were 38 adult ICU beds available.
Late arrival of the flu vaccine
Doctors working in general practice are expressing concerns about how services will be impacted by the late arrival of the flu vaccine, as cases of Covid-19 rise in many counties and doctors' surgeries have to limit availability of appointments for non-Covid patients.
Dr Denis McCauley, a GP in Stranorlar in Co Donegal, told RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne that there is a finite amount of services in hospitals so it is not ideal that the vaccine is not available yet while respiratory illnesses rise, along with increased levels of Covid-19 in Donegal.
Dr McCauley has said that his practice is asking patients with non-Covid concerns not to call at the moment as it is so busy assessing patients with symptoms of the virus.
He said it is "unhelpful" and "disappointing" as this year's flu vaccination programme hopes to cover most over-65s and all those who are compromised, before rolling out a live children's flu vaccine in the last two weeks of October.
He said "we need a magic day to get the magic number" [of vaccines] to properly run a flu vaccine clinic.
Dr Niall McNamara, a GP in the Keogh Practice in Waterford, told the programme that his practice has seen a drop in calls this week after a spike last Monday saw 120 people call with Covid-related concerns.
He said this had dropped by 60% by yesterday, when 70 Covid-related calls were taken.
Dr McNamara said that he is hopeful a slight decrease in calls shows that people are following the guidance about behaviour and that it will translate to a reduction in the number of cases detected in Waterford in the coming weeks.
In Louth, Dr Amy Morgan, a GP in Drogheda said that in tandem with the return to school there was an increase in calls from people querying symptoms of Covid-19 in her practice.
Dr Morgan told the programme that it is time-consuming advising people about limiting their movements, medical care and arranging tests and physical assessments.
However, she encouraged anyone with symptoms or other health concerns to call the surgery.
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'Concern' for Irish ICUs
Meanwhile, the President of the Intensive Care Society in Ireland has said "the concern is real" for Ireland's Intensive Care Units.
Speaking on the same programme, Consultant and Director of Critical Care at Dublin's Mater Hospital Dr Colman O'Loughlin said the foundation for the concern is whether the surge in Covid-19 that Ireland is experiencing at the moment grows similar to that seen in March and April of this year.
He said there are 16 patients in ICU today in Ireland, of which seven are outside of Dublin, "so this is a national problem", he added.
The day-to-day rate of ICU admissions is being closely monitored Dr O'Loughlin said, and a rise of 300-400 cases per day "is a worry".
Dr O'Loughlin said back in the first phase of Covid-19 cases, all other services were shut down while staff and resources were redeployed to ICU and to keep emergency services running.
"That can't happen now," he said.
"We have an obligation to care for all patients, not just Covid positive patients.
"We have active chemotherapy patients, critical patients with cardiovascular disease. We need to run parallel systems. Back in the first phase we had a successful outcome from ICU, with a 20% mortality rate which compares very positive nationally. But now there is a whole new level of problem, trying to run both services is very difficult."
There are currently 282 ICU beds in use in Ireland today, Dr O'Loughlin said, which is above the 270 baseline number in use. He said he hopes the €600m winter fund will address this.
He said: "We haven't gone a long way in increasing the baseline ICU capacity, and that is a concern."
It takes a significant amount of time and resources to "switch on" or establish an ICU bed, Dr O'Loughlin said.
He explained that it can take up to a year to train a nurse for the level of specialist care that is required.
Ireland adheres to a 1:1 ICU nurse ratio, so every ICU patient has a dedicated nurse, in line with international standards.
"It takes 5.6 nurses to open up one ICU bed. It isn't easy or cheap. It takes a long time to do it right. They are probably one of the most in-demand professions in the world right now. It is a huge challenge, so funding goes a long way."
Dr O'Loughlin said the measures taken to mitigate against the spread of Covid-19, together with uptake in the flu vaccine, will also help to stop the spread of influenza as we enter the flu season.
He said Ireland looks to the flu season in the southern hemisphere to try to predict how the flu virus may play out here.
"We can see from data in Australia that so far it has been a mild flu season. It doesn't always translate, but it often follows on."
HPSC figures yesterday showed that there were 280 adult intensive care beds open and staffed in the system, for Covid-19 and non-Covid care.
There were also 30 ICU beds for children open and staffed. The system had 45 adult ICU and eight paediatric beds vacant for care.
In mid-April, the hospital system had 415 ICU beds open and staffed.
Extra ICU beds are expected to be provided for in the new HSE winter plan due to be published this week.
