The Department of Health has been notified of 1,058 PCR-confirmed cases of Covid-19, while 1,188 people registered a positive antigen test through the HSE portal yesterday.
The number of patients in hospital with Covid-19 rose to 535 today from 520 yesterday, an increase of 15, with 43 of those patients in intensive care units, the same number as yesterday.
Despite the increase in hospital cases, the Director General of Science Foundation Ireland has said Ireland appears to be coming to the predicted end of the latest Covid-19 wave.
Professor Philip Nolan, a member of the National Public Health Emergency Team and Chairperson of the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said that while we may see the emergence of new and more transmissible variants of Covid-19, vaccines should offer high levels of protection and there are high levels of immunity in the population.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said it was important now to look at vaccine equity and ensure the world is vaccinated in a timely manner.
"I think the important thing now is that we do progressively move on with our lives," Prof Nolan said.
"But that we maintain very high levels of vigilance to the emergence of any new or potentially dangerous variant."
Prof Nolan also said the pandemic highlighted the need for sustained investment in fundamental research across all disciplines.
He said data modelling was hugely influential in the country’s response to Covid-19.
"Science and research were central to our pandemic response," he said.
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At the weekend, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said that Ireland had reached a "significant milestone" in the ongoing battle with Covid-19, adding that "all of the data is trending in the right direction".
This came after Ireland recorded its lowest level of people with Covid-19 in hospital this year on Saturday.
