And 6,735 new cases were recorded, with 461 cases in hospitals

According to health officials, the Omicron Covid-19 variant now accounts for more than 87% of infections.

Vaccination centers resumed services across the country this morning after being closed for Christmas and Saint Stephen’s Day.

In addition to mobile clinics, a number of vaccination centers offer online booking of booster appointments for people over 40, pregnant women over 30, health care workers over 30, and anyone over 30 with An underlying health condition.

Starting this Wednesday, anyone between the ages of 30 and 39 can book booster appointments.

Low level PCR testing has been running since Christmas Day.

‘Cases can multiply before they reach a peak’

One infectious disease expert believes Covid-19 infections could double before the Omicron wave reaches its peak here.

New highs of infection were recorded on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, with 10404 yesterday The third highest level since the virus reached Ireland.

Stephen’s Day, 426 patients with the virus were in hospital, a jump from Christmas Day’s number of 378, of whom 91 are in intensive care.

It is believed that it will take at least two weeks for the full effect to reach the hospital system.

Infectious disease expert Professor Sam McConkey has called on people to self-isolate if they are sick, even if they test negative for PCR.

Professor McConkey believes Denmark is a few weeks ahead of Ireland in the outbreak.

He says he expects the number of cases to double where it is now and the level to decline if the Danish experience guides it.

Prof McConkey says the severity of disease caused by Omicron may be less severe, but the sheer level of infection makes it dangerous.

«We are still seeing a lot of admissions because there will be a lot of infections,» Professor McConkey said.

Denmark appears to have stabilized. They’ve come to a number of cases about twice as long as we are, and then it looks like the issue has been fixed.

«To the extent that Denmark is a leader in this field, it is an indication that we can see our journey to some sort of prediction in the Danish data.»

«We’re not out of the woods yet.»

talking on Newstalk Radio, Professor McConkey pointed out that the Omicron variant has a recurrence rate of four which means the number of cases doubles every two to two and a half days, meaning that over the course of 20 days the variant “rises a thousand times” he said was a “frightening level of rising velocity”.

While the good news from South Africa was that patients did not become ‘severely ill’, the hospitalization rate in the UK using the Omicron variant was 70% lower, but this still means 30% may need to go to hospital.

He added that the fact that the Omicron variant was «less pathogenic» in Denmark could be due to the high level of vaccination and previous infections.

Infection levels at the moment are mostly in people aged 20-40, and the concern now was that the variant would spread to older groups over the next few weeks, potentially leading to large numbers in the first two weeks of January requiring hospitalization. and oxygen.

Professor McConkey also warned that there may be more variants in the future that could be more pathogenic. «We are not out of the woods yet.»

He said the argument that Omicron should be allowed «to run its course» is incorrect, because if widespread transmission is delayed by a week or two, it means less pressure on the health service and more time to expand the vaccination and booster program.

With 90,000 to 100,000 people getting the booster vaccine each day, a delay of two weeks could mean an increase of 1 million people.

«That’s one reason to follow Tony Holohan’s advice,» he said.

Over the weekend, chief medical officer Urging people to reduce their contacts With Covid-19 cases on the rise.

Dr Tony Holohan was speaking as Ireland set a new record of 11,182 daily cases on Christmas Day.

The Ministry of Health said that «large amounts» of case numbers are expected during the coming period.

Approximately 83% of reported cases are believed to be the Omicron variant.

Dr Holohan emphasized that Omicron is more portable than Delta and urged everyone to continue to minimize contacts and avoid crowded places as much as possible.