Covid is on the rise again in Ireland with 1,569 people with the virus in hospitals around the country on Sunday, an increase of 111 on the previous day. This compares to 1,185 the previous Sunday and 957 two weeks ago, a rise of almost 64%.
One top professor has said it's like "Covid soup out there" with cases vastly underreported and thousands struck down with the virus.
But will it impact our summer months and lead to more restrictions? Here's all you need to know.
READ MORE: Hospitals not safe for patients or staff, INMO warns
Luke O'Neill gives his take
Ireland is in the middle of another wave of Covid infections, largely thanks to more virulent strains of the disease like Omicron and its 'sister' BA.2, which Professor Luke O'Neill says is "everywhere".
The leading immunologist says that not only will mask-wearing mitigate the risk of contracting and transmitting this incredibly infectious variant, but it will also reduce pressure on the health system which is a top priority.
"The masks are important because even though they may not be perfect, they make a difference - they'll decrease spread," he told the Irish Mirror.
"The [case] count is going to go right down in the next three weeks, we're going to see that the surge will be over and once we get to May, it will be normal again.
"The hospital pressure will be gone and there's no need for these things then because the pressure will be off the health system."
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'Covid soup'
Professor Cliona Ní Cheallaigh said that the number of real cases is being "vastly under-reported" due to antigen testing.
She said: “There’s a lot of virus around… if you don’t want to get it, wear a mask. It’s Covid soup out there.
“The numbers are high and they’re vastly underreported because a lot of people are using antigen testing because of a change in testing policy and you have to be a fairly good girl like myself to upload the results of antigen tests on the web.”
Government on new restrictions
Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said: “As things stand we are experiencing a second wave of Omicron, the Omicron-plus variant, which as you know is more virulent than the original variant strain and is driven by the fact that these things do come in waves and there has been a reduction in restrictions in the last couple of weeks, people are mixing more.
“So, you know, it isn’t a surprise that we’re seeing an increase in infections.
“What is reassuring is that half of the people who are in hospital with Covid would be in hospital anyway, they’re incidental.
“We aren’t seeing the kind of numbers in ICU we would have been seeing a few months ago and thankfully the number of deaths is very low.
“So we have to keep monitoring the situation, we certainly don’t want to end up in the situation where we have to reimpose restrictions.
“This virus isn’t going to go away, we’re going to have more waves over the next couple of months, couple of years and we don’t want to be turning on and off restrictions.
“We do need to live with this virus."
WHO want more mask wearing
The WHO's special envoy on Covid-19, Dr David Nabarro, on Friday said as cases rise again, the government should be implementing a return to mask-wearing and social distancing.
"If I were in Ireland right now, I would be expecting there to be a request for mask-wearing in confined spaces where there may be crowds, such as public transport, for example, and hospitality venues that are hot and unventilated,” he said.
"I would be expecting those to be the kind of places where mask-wearing and physical distancing become strongly recommended."
Latest symptoms
According to the ZOE Covid Study, dizziness and fatigue are among the commonly reported symptoms of BA.2, with other signs said to be a runny nose and a headache.
