PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS have confirmed 1,522 new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

The Department of Health said that 217 patients are in hospital with Covid-19 and a total of 34 people are in intensive care units with the illness. 

Yesterday, 1,837 cases of Covid-19 were reported, with 208 patients with the illness in hospital, 31 of whom were in ICU.

As of last Wednesday, there has been a total of 5,044 deaths related to Covid-19 in Ireland.

Today’s figures did not contain any information about whether there were any other deaths due to the virus.

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said that in the past two weeks there have been 20,000 cases.

“While 17% of these cases were in people who are doubly vaccinated, this is entirely in keeping with what we expect as an increasing proportion of our population get vaccinated.

“It’s important to remember that this does not mean vaccines are not effective. While they will not prevent every case, they provide excellent protection against severe disease and significantly reduce the risk of hospitalisation.

“”If you are awaiting or have recently received your second vaccine dose, please be aware you are not yet fully vaccinated. You will be fully vaccinated 1 week after your second dose of Pfizer and 2 weeks after your second dose of Moderna and AstraZeneca.

“If you have received Janssen, you should not regard yourself as fully vaccinated until 2 weeks after,” he said.