The Department of Health here in the Irish Republic has confirmed 23,817 new cases of Covid-19 within the past 24 hours.
There are now 941 people in hospital with the virus, up 13 on yesterday’s reported figures, with the number of patients in ICU at 90; down four also on yesterday.
Almost 9.8 million vaccines have now been administered within the Irish Republic.
The HSE’s Chief Clinical Officer Dr Colm Henry has stated that the increases in positive cases are presently among the younger age groups, with cases in the 19-44 year old age group up 200%.
The total number of deaths related to Covid-19 within the Republic of Ireland, since the start of the pandemic, now stands at 5,952.
New Digital Covid Certificates are to be issued to people from this week, to reflect booster vaccines, the Minister for Health has stated. The updated certs will be automatically issued to people who have already received an additional or booster vaccination in recent months.
Chief Executive of the Health Service Executive Mr Paul Reid has stated that there is no doubt that we remain in a very uncertain period of time in terms of the impact of the Omicron virus variant, from a HSE perspective. He further stated that there is no doubt that there are many more cases of Covid-19, than were published, through recent daily figures.
All retailers are being asked to remove Genrui-branded antigen tests from shelves on a voluntary basis, after advice from the Health Products Regulatory Authority. The Genrui brand is not being used by HSE, for close contacts, the health service also confirmed.
The Health Products Regulatory Authority said it would encourage people who experienced a false positive, or negative result, to report the occurrence to it, at devicesafety@HPRA.ie.
In Northern Ireland their Department of Health has reported a further 6,877 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours.
There are 404 patients with Covid-19 in northern hospitals, up from 403 on yesterday. There are 30 patients with Covid-19 in hospital intensive care units, 2 less than yesterday.
Sadly however, 4 more Covid-19-related deaths are reported today, bringing the total number of deaths in Northern Ireland, since the start of the pandemic, to 3,002.
The Omicron variant remains dominant in Northern Ireland, accounting for almost 90% of cases.
In Belgium, (latter home to the European Union institutions and NATO), they confirm that daily cases of Covid-19 have reached a new peak this week, with health experts warning of between 30,000 and 125,000 cases per day by mid-January; in a nation of some 11.56 million inhabitants.
In France, the French parliament has approved the government’s latest measures to tackle Covid-19, including a Covid-Vaccine pass. French President Mr Emmanuel Macron, had referred to unvaccinated people as being irresponsible and unworthy of being considered citizens. France registered a record of more than 332,000 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours yesterday and a further 246 Covid deaths in their hospitals, as the country battles a fifth wave of the virus.
In Israel yesterday, hospitalisations stood at 363 patients, after the Health Ministry reported more than 16,000 new cases, latter a record high in Israel since the start of the pandemic.
It was never more important that everyone now continue to support our schools, businesses, immediate family and friends and to keep to the spirit of public health advice.
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