Coronavirus: 8 deaths and 6,888 COVID-19 cases today

In London over the weekend, mayor Sadiq Khan declared a "major incident" as hospitals continued to admit hundreds of new coronavirus patients every day, with the situation posing a "serious threat to the health of the community". However Laois now ranks fourth best in Ireland for having the lowest 14 day incidence. Offaly recorded 72 new cases yesterday, 94 on Thursday and 135 on Wednesday.

Hospitals in Northern Ireland are "facing into an abyss" as the number of coronavirus patients soars - with one forced to put out an urgent appeal on social media for off-duty staff to report for duty.

The HPSC has today been notified of 8 additional deaths related to Covid-19.

Of the cases notified today: 2,088 are in Dublin, 862 in Cork, 469 in Limerick, 405 in Wexford, 320 in Waterford and the remaining 2,744 cases are spread across all other counties.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of eight additional deaths related to Covid-19.

Earlier, Professor Sam McConkey said the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in Ireland can not be predominantly attributed to new variants of the virus.

As of 14:00 on Sunday, there were 1,452 Covid-19 patients in the Republic's hospitals and 125 were in intensive care.

In England, some crews are being made to wait nine hours in ambulances with patients before they can be admitted to hospital due to spiralling cases.

Legendary "Tetris" Player Jonas Neubauer Dies at 39 | 4Gamers
The 39-year-old died as a effect of a medical emergency that occurred just a few days in the past. Neubauer won the Classic Tetris World Championship seven times in an eight-year period.

"Over the past weeks, we have seen a swift and sharp spike in admissions into critical care units across the country".

Director of hospital services Dr David Robinson said the third surge is expected to be the worst of the three with pressures now building, particularly in their inpatient wards and critical care.

It comes after a stark warning was issued by the region's public health officials that the number of hospital patients could double by next week. "The best way we can protect our ICU capacity and those that work in them is to stay at home".

Professor Philip Nolan is modelling the progress of the disease for the State. We are seeing numbers of cases per day, and numbers in hospital, that we just could not have comprehended prior to Christmas. "The tools to address this accelerated growth rate are in our hands and we know from experience how we can significantly suppress transmission of the virus".

A further 6,888 positive results brought the number of cases during the pandemic to 147,613.

This rate makes Ireland the most Covid-infected nation in the world in the past week.

Another 1,112 people tested positive for Covid-19 in the region in the past 24 hours. The Covid-19 vaccines provide the long-term hope and the current lockdown offers the opportunity to shorten the duration of the current surge.