Tánaiste Leo Varadkar expects cases of Covid-19 to start dropping over the coming weeks due to vaccines and infection-acquired immunity, as a further 3,903 cases were reported in the State.
Some 463 people are in hospital with the virus, including 76 in intensive care, the Department of Health announced on Friday.
Speaking in Galway earlier on Friday, Mr Varadkar said he is confident that the number of cases will drop in the coming weeks but he expects it to be an issue again next winter and beyond.
“I think the situation is fragile but it is also stable. Cases are very high and they are continuing to rise. We expect them to continue to rise over the next couple of days.”
However, he said the number of people in hospital is “relatively stable despite the increase in cases, the number of people in hospital and ICU is much the same as it was a week or two ago. And that gives us confidence that the vaccine wall is holding.”
He said that because of “ immunity from vaccines and also infection-acquired immunity we will reach a point over the next couple of weeks when cases will start falling”.
This did not mean that Covid was going away.
“Pandemics never just end, they tend to just fizzle out. So I would be confident we will get through the winter and will be in a much better place again in the spring and summer.
“But, of course, next winter this virus, which is now endemic, will be here again and at that point vaccine immunity will have waned, you could see outbreaks again. This is a pandemic which is not just going to end one day. We will never be able to declare ‘mission accomplished’ but it will fizzle out this winter and spring and summer will be very normal, much more like we are used to before the pandemic started but we can’t rule out running into difficulties again next winter. That’s the nature of respiratory viruses,” added Mr Varadkar.
Meanwhile in a statement issued by the Department of Health on Friday, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said the latest case figures were “concerning” and acted as a “stark reminder that this virus is highly contagious”.
“This is not a situation any of us want to be in, but our reality remains that we are still in the midst of a global pandemic.”
He said the good news was that the number of people per 1000 cases requiring hospitalisation and critical care as a result of Covid-19 infection has reduced as has the average age of cases as a result of some early impact of the booster vaccination.
He appealed again for an adherence to public health measures, such as washing hands, covering coughs and wearing masks and said that “while it is wonderful to see the continued reopening of our society”, it was important that we are conscious of the vulnerable people in our lives.
“If you socialise, be mindful of your contacts in the days after, especially consider anyone you may meet who may be immunocompromised or vulnerable to Covid-19.”