The Department of Health this evening has confirmed a further 4,620 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, here in the Irish Republic.
The number of people in hospital with coronavirus stands at 571, down 27 since yesterday, and of these, 118 remain in intensive care units around the country, a decrease of 8 on yesterday.
Here in The Irish Republic, booster vaccines will be offered to everyone aged 16 years and over, following new recommendations from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC). Minister for Health Mr Stephen Donnelly has stated that he has accepted these recommendations, which have also been endorsed by the Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan.
In Northern Ireland, there were 2,004 new infections confirmed today.
There are currently 370 Covid patients in northern hospitals, down from 395 yesterday.
There are 33 being treated in intensive care units (ICUs), down 2 on Wednesday. Sadly, however, 9 Covid-19-related deaths have also been reported in Northern Ireland today.
The European Union have agreed to suspend travel on flights from southern Africa after the detection of a new Covid-19 variant, as fears grow about a new COVID-19 variant. The UK, Germany and Italy have already banned flights from South Africa and a number of other African countries within the region. EU Commission Chief, Frau Ursula von der Leyen has stated that what worries health officials is the fact that this new variant has a very unusual constellation of mutations, raising fears vaccines would be less effective against it and that it is even more transferable than the current Delta variant. Variant B.1.1.529, dubbed ‘the Botswana variant’, currently has 32 variations according to virologists.
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