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The numbers in hospital with Covid-19 has surpassed 1,000 for the first time in the current Omicron wave, HSE chief executive Paul Reid has said.
The number in hospital as of Monday morning was 1,004, a rise of 20 on Sunday. It is the first time there has been more than 1,000 patients in hospital with Covid-19 since February 10th.
The numbers in intensive care, though, continue to fall with 82 people in ICU overnight, down one on Sunday.
Mr Reid said the severity of the disease is not what it was with previous variants.
The percentage of people testing positive for Covid-19 who are presenting to hospitals with symptoms is “significantly down” on previous waves he added, but the volume of people in hospital with Covid-19 is impacting on services.
“Our ICU cases haven’t risen, they have remained stable. We will see what this looks like in a week’s time,” he said.
“The actions the public have taken has helped the health system overall.”
In addition, between 14,000 and 15,000 healthcare staff are out with Covid-19 either through having the disease themselves or as close contacts.
“What has really hit is the pace of which this has happened. Some hospitals have gone from 60 staff out to 350 staff out in a short space of time,” he said.
A respiratory consultant at St James’ Hospital in Dublin has said the situation in hospitals at present is “light years removed” from what it was last January or February.
Dr Brian Kent, who has just finished his first week on the Covid unit since Omicron kicked in, said the situation is “ way less awful than I’d expected given the viral apocalypse case numbers”.
He tweeted: “On the other hand: some patients still getting ferociously sick. Staff illness a BIG issue.
“Still, way less scary than we might have feared, and feeling much more optimistic than 3-4 weeks ago.”