There have been a further 21,302 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported by the Department of Health today.
As of this morning there were 884 people in Ireland hospitalised with the disease, an increase of 80 on yesterday.
There are 90 of these patients in the ICU, three fewer than were receiving intensive care on Monday.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said “For the second January in a row, a significant surge in infection from COVID-19 is having a major impact on essential services across all sectors, including the health service.”
“As one of our key essential services – the education sector prepares to restart in person education this week, it is important that we continue to minimise, as much as we can, discretionary mixing indoors with people from other households.”
He added that there was a “significant reduction” in COVID-19 incidence among primary school aged children in December, but that it is “inevitable” that children will pick the virus up from household contacts in the coming days.
“We also know, as a result, that there will be cases and outbreaks in schools and childcare settings.”
However, the CMO added that Irish and international “experience of the pandemic” leads the government to continue to believe that schools are a lower risk environment for transmission of the virus, and that kids infected will mostly experience a mild form of COVID-19.
“It is also important to note that children between the ages of 5 – 12 are now eligible for vaccination. You can get more information on www.hse.ie.”
“Children who have symptoms of COVID-19, or who live in a household where someone has received a positive or “detected” test result either on a PCR or an antigen test should not attend school.”
Statistics on booster vaccinations are now available on the COVID-19 data hub, which provides details on the status of the disease in the community.
