There are 1,426 patients with Covid-19 in Irish hospitals today, a decrease of 26 since yesterday. The number of those in ICU has risen overnight by three to 128.
Dr Michael Power, consultant in Intensive Care Medicine in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, said the pressure on critical care is "grim and worrying".
He told RTÉ's Morning Ireland there are currently 37 beds available in the ICU system. Some hospitals have contacted other facilities and activated the mobile intensive care ambulance service transport to transfer patients from one hospital to another to alleviate pressure.
Dr Power said there is an initiative across the acute hospital system to step down scheduled surgery, except for emergency and time critical cancer surgery, which will