Hospitals are stepping up their preparations for a further surge in Covid admissions, according to the head of a hospital group.
141 patients are in hospital with the virus, compared to just 63 two weeks ago.
1,345 new cases of Covid were confirmed yesterday, and the five-day moving average is just under 1,300.
Letterkenny Hospital in Donegal has 19 Covid patients - the highest in the country.
Tony Canavan is CEO of the Saolta Group, which manages the hospital and six others.
"I would say that within the last ten days we have stepped up our preparations, because we're recognising fast that we're on the upward curve of the fourth wave to make sure that all of our sites are prepare to what might come in the door to us.
"We have in the last 7-10 days we've seen an increase in the numbers in our hospitals in the north west and west, and that includes patients in general hospital beds but now we're also starting to see an increase in our patients in ICUs."
