Ireland had yet another dramatic day in the ongoing battle against Covid-19.
Saturday saw a real mix of good and bad news, where despite a positive drop in infections, the number of people in hospitals and intensive care soared again.
There was another update on the South African variant, while new figures revealed that over 50,000 people arrived here over Christmas.
Here's everything you need to know about Covid-19 in Ireland today:
Large drop in cases
Ireland recorded 4,842 new cases of the deadly virus on Saturday - a very welcome drop from 8,248 on Friday.
While any death is one too many, the number of people who passed away also fell from 20 to nine.
Read the full story here.
South African variant 'contained'
Health experts believe the new South African strain identified in Ireland on Friday has been contained.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan explained that the variant was identified in three cases in recent days, and that each was associated with travel from the country.
However, speaking on Saturday, NPHET member Cillian De Gascun said the situation was under control.
"The good thing about the South African variant is we know exactly where those cases came from, they have been contained, controlled and contact traced, and to the best of my knowledge there was no onward transmission," he told RTE.
Read the full story here.
Worrying spike in hospital and ICU admissions
The number of people being admitted to hospitals nationwide continues to rise.
As of 2pm, 1,293 were receiving treatment, a jump of 102 from the previous 24 hours.
The number of patients in intensive care units also rose to 119.
Read the full story here.
Health experts preparing for another hospital surge
Health officials are preparing emergency plans across hospitals as they expect the number of Covid-19 patients to more than double over the coming weeks.
Hospital staff are bracing themselves for a surge in coronavirus patients as the number of cases escalate.
The number of people with Covid-19 in hospital is now four times higher than a two weeks ago.
You can read the full story here.
50,000 travelled to Ireland over Christmas
Over 50,000 people flew into Ireland over the festive period, a new report has revealed.
Between December 21 and January 3, 54,311 travellers touched down across the Republic.
Unsurprisingly, the majority were via Dublin Airport.
After the Government banned travel from the UK four days before Christmas, only 1,444 people came through the arrivals doors at the three main Irish airports - Dublin, Cork and Shannon.
Read the full story here.
