Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan has asked the public to do something "difficult" - follow the public health advice and isolate if you are showing symptoms of Covid 19.
Dr Holohan issued a stark winter warning in a letter to the Minister for Health.
In an official letter addressed to Stephen Donnelly, Dr Holohan outlined the burden placed on the health system as a result of Covid cases in communities and hospitals.
He said: "The number of Covid-19 cases currently in the community and in hospitals continues to place a very substantial additional burden on delivery of non-Covid care across the wider health system, noting also that these pressures are likely to increase over the course of the winter period.”
“Both the total number of confirmed cases and the average number of newly confirmed cases per day in hospitals are high.
“The number of confirmed cases in ICU and requiring mechanical ventilation is also high."
He added that the recent trajectory has given indication that it is expected severe disease may increase in coming weeks, that deaths were increasing, and the situation will require ‘close monitoring’.
He continued: “Given the recent trajectory in terms of the disease profile, these indicators of severe disease may increase further in the coming weeks and will require ongoing close monitoring.
"Deaths per day are increasing very slowly at approximately 7 per day, or 200 deaths per month. “
The letter highlighted the urgency of booster vaccination in vulnerable groups, that the efforts may mitigate high case counts.
He expressed: “This may increase, given the very high case counts, though booster vaccination in older persons may mitigate against this.
"There continues to be a significant number of outbreaks reported in settings with vulnerable populations. "
It comes as the Department of Health was notified of a further 4,764 cases on Thursday evening, with the government discussing the Nu variant that is picking up speed in South Africa.
Paschal Donohoe said there is a strong possibility that Cabinet may have to bring in new measures as Ireland "isn't where we'd like to be" to deal with a new strain of Covid-19.
Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said on Friday afternoon: “We don’t know much about this variant yet, we don’t yet know if it’s going to be a variant of concern, but given our experience with the Delta variant that originated in India, I think governments in the UK and Europe were slow to act on that, we want to make sure that we’re not slow to act on this occasion."
Furthermore, children in third class or above should now wear masks while in school, according to NPHET, and those aged nine or older should be masked while in areas where face coverings are required by adults.
Have your say on the latest restrictions below, or click here.
