Ireland's leading doctors have expressed grave concerns at the "unsustainably high level of" COVID-19 cases.
Chief Medical Officers Dr Michael McBride (Northern Ireland) and Dr Tony Holohan (Republic of Ireland) are urging everyone to stay at home in a bid to bring down the infection rate.
They said in a statement: "As CMOs, we are gravely concerned about the unsustainably high level of COVID-19 infection we are experiencing on the island of Ireland.
"This is having a significant impact on the health of our population and the safe functioning of our healthcare systems.
"Unfortunately, due to the surge of infections we have experienced over the past few weeks, we have seen an increase in mortality figures and our health systems have been placed under immense pressure.
"We are likely to see ongoing increases in hospitalisations, ICU admissions and mortality in the weeks ahead."
They added that many of the patients admitted to hospital in January were under the age of 65.
They said: "COVID-19 can affect us all, regardless of age or underlying condition. It highlights the need for us all to protect one another by staying at home.
"Not only will you keep yourself and your loved ones safe, but also help to save lives and avoid more preventable COVID-19 admissions to our currently struggling healthcare systems.
“We will continue to work together to protect public health across the island, as we have done throughout this pandemic, but we need everyone to play their part by staying at home and protecting themselves and their communities.”
