Taoiseach describes situation as 'very serious' as 1,377 new Covid cases reported

A total of 78 patients with the illness are in hospital today, including 22 in intensive care.

Yesterday there were 1,173 new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has described the rising number of cases as very serious.

Mr Martin also said he was also concerned about the Delta variant.

"This is a further twist in the road of Covid-19 and there will be high volumes of case numbers, which will continue to grow", he said.

The Taoiseach warned that there needs to be a close eye on hospitalisation, illness and mortality resulting from the rising number of cases.

Mr Martin is due to meet Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan to discuss the recent rise in cases, and look ahead to the situation expected in August and September.

Health officials earlier urged people who are awaiting full vaccination to "take every precaution" this weekend after Ireland reported its highest daily total of Covid-19 cases in more than five months.

Yesterday, Chair of the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group Professor Philip Nolan called the rise in cases among those aged 16 to 18 “exceptional”.

In a video posted on the Department of Health’s Twitter page, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Ronan Glynn said: “Unfortunately our incidence has now risen to over 180 per 100,000 cases and we’re reporting a five-day average of cases of over 800 cases per day, and that’s the highest it’s been since the beginning of February.”

There is a particularly high incidence rate among people aged 16 to 30, Glynn said.

Mr Glynn said that Ireland's incidence rate has risen to 180 per 100,000 cases and high case numbers are beginning to translate into increasing numbers in hospitals and intensive care units.

In a post on Twitter, Dr Glynn said that while people have "taken great hope from the fact that our vaccination programme is rolling out quickly", there are still over two-and-a-half million adults who are not fully protected or not adequately protected through vaccination.

He urged people who are not yet vaccinated to be careful about indoor settings and to not meet up with other people indoors if it can be avoided.

The National Public Health Emergency Team has also said there has been a sharp increase in cases among 16 to 34 year-olds.