A further 1,456 Covid-19 cases have been reported this afternoon (Saturday) by the Department of Health.
There are 261 covid patients in public hospitals, down 27 in the past 24 hours with 66 in ICU.
At University Hospital Waterford, there are six patients being treated with the virus, none in ICU.
The latest data follows confirmation from Minister for Further and Higher Education that pop-up vaccination centres will open across 22 college campuses over the next few weeks.
The announcement by Simon Harris is aimed at getting vaccine rates up in the younger age groups.
The latest figures show only 78 per cent of people aged 16 - 29 have been fully vaccinated - compared to 90 per cent of the all adult population.
The temporary campus centres are “all about making it as easy as possible for every student & indeed staff member to avail of full vaccination & the protection that that provides”, he wrote on Twitter.
The pop-up clinics will be in addition to other vaccination centres already operating at some campuses for the general public.
Meanwhile, the chief executive of the Health Service Executive (HSE), Paul Reid, said on Saturday morning that the number of patients being treated in intensive care units had risen.
A “hugely disproportionate number” of these patients are unvaccinated, he wrote on Twitter, adding: “It’s never too late to be vaccinated and our commitment stands to never leave anyone behind”.
Test Centres
Meanwhile, the HSE/South East Community Healthcare is reminding people to book an online appointment, as presentations on a “walk-in” (no appointment) basis remain temporarily suspended at all five of its COVID-19 testing facilities.
There has been an increase in recent weeks of numbers coming to test centres and they continue to be high.
Capacity has been extended by the HSE nationwide to meet a demand of 20,000 tests per day. The HSE expects that anyone who requires or wishes to get tested will get a same-day test (depending on what time they book). Members of the public are welcome to make an appointment by self-referral, using the web portal for doing so at https://covid19test.healthservice.ie/hse-self-referral/
If you have any symptoms that indicate that you may have COVID-19 (like cough, fever, headache, sore throat and blocked or runny nose), isolate and get a test immediately. For further information, see https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/covid19/testing/get-tested/
