The reporting of more than 600 daily cases of Covid-19 for the first time since late April was a “cause of concern”, the chief medical officer warned on Friday.
Dr Tony Holohan said the 631 cases showed “ this disease is prevalent in our communities again” and he urged unvaccinated people to “hold firm”.
“We know there is worry and frustration out there, particularly for young people, who have had significant parts of their lives put on hold by this disease. We ask if you are not yet vaccinated, to hold firm to the public health advice as you await your vaccine. Please continue to manage your contacts, meet outdoors and avoid crowds.”
The figures released by the Department of Health also showed there were 50 Covid-19 patients hospitalised, of which 15 are in ICU.
Separately, in Northern Ireland 605 new cases were reported by its Department of Health in the last 24 hours. A total of 2,107,863 doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in the North so far.
Delta variant
The total number of Delta variant cases of Covid-19 reported in the Republic has more than doubled, according to latest data.
Some 472 cases of the variant here have now been sequenced, according to the latest update from the HSE’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC). This compares with a total of 220 such cases reported last week.
More than 83 per cent of the cases were in people aged 44 and under. Just 2.5 per cent were in potentially more vulnerable people aged 65 and over.
With the rise in overall case numbers, the proportion of cases genetically sequenced has dropped sharply, from a high of more than 40 per cent to about 20 per cent.
More than 50 per cent of the sequenced cases involved the Delta variant, with most of the rest accounted for by the previously dominant Alpha variant.
Over the past fortnight, 6,034 Covid-19 cases occurred in the Republic, according to a separate update from the HPSC.
According to the latest figures, Co Donegal had the highest 14-day Covid-19 incidence at 389.5 new cases per 100,000 people, compared with a national incidence of 126.7.
Waterford and Sligo had incidences of about 200 per 100,000 population, while Carlow had the lowest incidence, at 28.1.
Some 417 of the cases in the fortnight were travel-related and 19 were acquired in a healthcare setting.
