The Department of Health has been notified of a further 4,141 new cases of Covid-19.
The number of people hospitalised with the virus stood at 443 this morning - down 27.
Of those in hospital, there are 108 being treated in intensive care, which is up three since yesterday.
The Department of Health has said that the total number of Omicron cases confirmed through whole genome sequencing in Ireland to date has been revised down to 39 confirmed cases, following further data validation.
Latest figures also show that another person under the age of 25 has died with Covid-19 in the last week, according to latest official figures.
It brings to eight the number of Covid-19 deaths under the age of 25 since the start of the pandemic here.
According to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, there were 19 Covid-related deaths in the week to last Tuesday, all with a date of death in that week.
The average age of deaths in the past week was 64 years.
In relation to the deaths of those under 25, the HPSC says that due to the small number of people who have died in this group, it does not break down the ages further to protect confidentiality.
The figures come as the HSE says it is on track to have administered over 1.5 million booster vaccines or third doses by Christmas, with 8.8 million doses having been administered overall so far.
As of this morning, the total number of boosters administered stood at 1.35 million.
HSE Chief Executive Paul Reid said that yesterday saw the largest number of booster doses administered – over 50,000.
Speaking at the HSE's weekly Covid-19 briefing, Mr Reid said vaccination centres are to extend their opening hours to 8am-8pm seven days per week, with capacity also increasing at some existing sites.
He added that the online portal is also to open for high risk 5 to 11 year olds from 28 December.
Dr Lucy Jessop said NIAC "very strongly recommends" the vaccine for children aged five to 11, who have underlying conditions who are living with a younger child with complex medical needs, or who are living with someone who is immunocompromised. | More: https://t.co/2ou0QsgS2F pic.twitter.com/XwF2cMHOMo
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) December 16, 2021
Mr Reid said that in the nearly two years the pandemic has been ongoing, one of the most difficult things to accept was that as soon as it appears "good inroads" are being made, the virus "emerges again".
"One of the most disheartening experiences, I guess for everybody, throughout the pandemic is that on every occasion when we feel that we're nearly through the worst, the virus emerges again with another and indeed more impactful threat at all different times," he said.
He added that "unfortunately this seems to be where we find ourselves once again".
"It's unfortunate because at a time when we appear to be making good inroads into conquering the immediate impact of Delta variant another threat emerges and we find ourselves at a time when we would have hoped to dismantle many of our defences, we can't dismantle them and we find ourselves having to put up even stronger defences again."
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However, he said that a change in public behaviour is having an impact, adding that for the first time in many weeks, there is now a consistent downward trend in hospitalisations, with hospitalisations down 18% on last week.
"We do hope that we see this trend continue particularly as we come to Christmas so that more Covid patients in particular can get home to see their loved ones for Christmas."
HSE @PaulReidDublin said many elective care procedures have been cancelled over recent weeks and last week 1,700 bed days were used in private hospitals across the country to offset this. | More: https://t.co/2ou0QsgS2F pic.twitter.com/3A2flj8eIv
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) December 16, 2021
NPHET is widely expected to make recommendations to the Government around reducing social mixing, as well as advising that all close contacts of those with Covid restrict their movements.
(Image: Rolling News)
The possibility of tightening restrictions further on hospitality has led the Restaurants Association of Ireland to warn that such a move would have a "devastating economic impact on businesses already flattened financially".
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly warned last night it was "entirely possible", due to the increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant, that the number of Covid-19 infections and hospitalisations could exceed the spike last January.
The Omicron variant constitutes a very significant risk for the country, Mr Donnelly said.
He added that based on information coming from the UK, it is what he termed "reasonable", to predict Ireland can expect a very high number of cases.
That increased risk led Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan to warn last night that anyone planning to spend Christmas with older family members, the immunocompromised or those vulnerable to the effects of Covid needed to now avoid crowds, limit their contacts, and work from home unless absolutely necessary.
Elsewhere, a further 2,237 cases of the virus were confirmed in Northern Ireland. A further six deaths were also recorded there in the past 24 hours.
