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There have been 769 Covid-19 cases reported by the Department of Health, along with two Covid-related deaths.
It is the largest daily increase in reported cases since Friday, February 26.
Professor Philip Nolan, head of the epidemiological modeling advisory group for the National Public Health Emergency Team, has said there has been a 9% week-over-week increase in the number of cases.
75% of reported cases are in people under 45, and the average age of people who test positive is 32.
284 of the cases are in Dublin, 67 in Donegal, 47 in Offaly, 45 in Meath and 44 in Kildare. The remaining 282 cases are spread across 20 other counties.
The number of people with Covid-19 receiving treatment at the hospital has risen from 328 yesterday to 360. This figure includes 82 patients who are receiving intensive care.
654,251 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland as of Thursday March 18.
478,725 people have received their first dose and 175,526 of them have also received a second dose.
The number of people who will receive their first dose of a vaccine is expected to reach half a million in the next few days.
It comes after the Clinical Director of the Health Service Executive expressed concern about a “stubbornly high” level of Covid-19.
Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week, Dr. Colm Henry said that the trend they are seeing is “definite stagnation” and that the 14-day incidence rate has also stalled.
He said that the breeding value is stuck at 1, which means that the disease is stable or increasing.
“So there are some signs of concern that sometimes anticipate the deterioration of some of these numbers and one is an increase in referrals to GPs for testing, another is that close contacts of established cases have a very high percentage. of positivity of 24% and one of each three the contacts of the home are positive “.
He warned that the virus is at a much higher level than it was in early December and as long as it remains so it will become a stream of hospital admissions.
Dr. Henry said there is no evidence that the school has influenced the current high numbers of Covid-19.
He said there have been a small number of outbreaks in schools and the overall positivity within contacts is much lower than in the community.
It also reinforced the message that community transmission represents a significant risk.
Read more: Latest coronavirus stories
Recognizing that people are suffering and exhausted, Dr. Henry said that with each increase it becomes more difficult to make the same sacrifices.
While he said that the consideration of any relief from the restrictions rests with the government, he said there is a public health recognition of the enormous impact that Covid-19 is having on the well-being and suffering of people, including isolation.
“We would all like to see lower numbers, because the lower we get, the more options we have.”
Dr. Henry said that as summer approaches he would like to focus on health and wellness and what people can do outdoors.
He also hopes that advice for older people will become easier as they get fully vaccinated.
Dr. Henry said that Covid-related hospitalizations are not exclusive to older people or those with underlying health conditions, as virus rates remain high.
“We will see continued admissions to the hospital of all age groups.”
Regarding contact tracing, he said that for around 70 to 80% of Covid cases, the source is known.
He said that in about 20 to 30% of cases, people do not know and public health departments carry out some degree of source investigation, such as monitoring people who come from Category 2 countries or school settings or of health.
“It is our intention as the numbers decline that we conduct an investigation of the source.”
He accepted that thousands of contact markers may be needed to stop the spread of the virus.
However, Dr. Henry said source research becomes much more effective as a tool once community transmission is suppressed, as it prevents a resurgence of the disease.
On the other hand, he is confident that the HSE will be able to catch up with the vaccination of those who were due to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine last week for the next ten days.
Dr. Henry said that you can see how people might see the pause as a setback, but he said that people should be sure that it is a safe and effective vaccine.
“20 million have received the vaccine. What I hope is that people accept that we had to pause to evaluate a signal,” he said.
He said that, as with any medicine, an informational brochure will list the possible side effects of the vaccine.
He said the HSE is not in a position to provide an alternative vaccine to those seeking another.
“We trust not only the tests, but also the real-world experience that it is safe.”
There are currently 360 people with confirmed Covid-19 cases receiving treatment in hospitals across the country. 82 of these patients are being treated in intensive care units.
Last night 525 new cases were reported and the average number of daily cases has remained at around 500.
For the seventh consecutive day, the 14-day incidence rate was about 150 cases per 100,000.
Co Offaly, which reported 25 new cases yesterday, has the highest 14-day incidence rate in the country at nearly 389 cases per 100,000.
Leitrim and Kilkenny have the lowest rate.
There is concern that the number of cases may start to rise again.
The online platform, GPBuddy, which has been collecting data on GP referrals, says it has seen an increase in the number of patients referred for testing in the last week.
Meanwhile, vaccination continues at Helix in Dublin today for some people over the age of 75 and at various hospitals for some of those with serious underlying conditions.
It is expected that in the next few days the number of people who will have received their first dose of the vaccine will reach half a million.
Additional reporting Orla O’Donnell
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