One of the country's leading coronavirus experts has said Ireland is experiencing an "exit wave" of the disease.
Professor Philip Nolan, the former chair of modelling on Covid-19 at NPHET, said the recent spike in cases is not something to be overly concerned about.
It comes as the number of people with the virus in hospital hit its highest level in more than 13 months on Wednesday.
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As of 8am, 1,081 patients were being treated for the disease in hospital, of which 44 were in ICU.
Speaking to reporters in Washington DC, Prof Nolan said while serious levels of infection are being reported, "serious harm" as a result of these cases is not.
"It's very hard to tell what level of infection you might get when formal measures and restrictions are relaxed," he said.
"The situation remains where we're seeing infection, yes, but serious harm, no.
Ireland is experiencing an "exit wave" of coronavirus cases at the moment, he added, but this recent spike is "not worrying".
Prof Nolan said the wave is "to be expected" to a certain extent, and serious illness is the “important thing to watch”.
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“We are seeing higher numbers of infections but we’re also seeing the impact of vaccination," he said.
"Even though we are seeing larger numbers of infections and the virus transmitting, as sort of an exit wave of the pandemic if I can put it that way, it’s not translating into serious harm.
“It’s not translating into people in intensive care like the way it did in previous waves."
When asked if he anticipates that NPHET will reconvene, he said: "Not that I'm aware of, we've formally stood down, there's a monitoring group in place.
"I see no signals of the need for specific action at this point over and above the advice we have given."
Prof Nolan urged people to avail of their booster vaccines if they have not already done so.
He said "hundreds of thousands" of people who contracted the virus over Christmas will soon be eligible for their extra jab.
It comes as Taoiseach Micheal Martin said he is concerned about the rise in Covid-19 cases and has urged people to take precautions on St Patrick’s Day.
Speaking to the Irish Mirror in Washington, Mr Martin said: “We are concerned with the increase in Covid cases.
“In respect of hospitals, my understanding is quite a number of those 50% are people who arrived at the hospital for other ailments but were diagnosed with Covid once inside.
“Because of isolation, it creates a real pressure on our hospitals, so that’s one aspect of that.”
Mr Martin said the numbers in ICU “are not rising as we speak” and said the Government has been in contact with Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan.
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