HSE facing 'huge stress' amid Covid surge - Reid

The healthcare system is facing "huge stress" as a result of the latest virus surge, according to HSE Chief Paul Reid. According to Mr Reid, there are now 1,625 people in hospital with the virus, which is an increase 56 from yesterday. "We need to turn this tide again asap and repeat doing the basics," he posted on Twitter this morning. "Please wear your mask appropriately, come forward for your booster or primary vaccine and isolate if symptoms." Meanwhile, Assistant Professor of Virology at UCD Dr Gerald Barry has said that new Covid-19 variants are going to "keep coming for the foreseeable future".

Dr Barry said that there are so many cases of the virus right now because we have lifted all restrictions and the newest variant - BA2 - is so contagious.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said "we have a version of this virus that, you know, to put it simply, we've never ever seen in our lifetimes a virus as infectious as this. "As a respiratory form that spreads so easily between people, so it's a kind of a perfect storm in a way," he said.

Dr Barry added that people in future will be getting infected with Covid and will have to spend a few days in bed to recover on a regular basis. "Unfortunately, we're still at a phase where this virus is learning how to live with us and it's changing constantly to try and perfect how it moves through us," he said. "And because of that, our immune system is having to deal effectively with a very different virus every time a new wave comes along and it's likely, as we've seen up to now, the new versions of the virus, or new variants of the virus are going to keep coming for the foreseeable future." He said we must prepare for new waves of infection and accept that protective