Critical care at capacity as Martin warns restrictions to last months

Vaccination rollout suffers ‘real’ setback due to AstraZeneca production issues whilst schools look set to remain shut for weeks as talks to continue on students with special needs

Micheál Martin: The number of Covid-19 cases, currently running at well over 2,000 a day, would have to be in the ‘hundreds’ or even down to ‘100-200’ cases a day to ease restrictions.

Restrictions to stop the spread of Covid-19 are likely to stay in place for the first six months of the year, the Taoiseach warned yesterday as the country’s planned vaccination rollout was dealt a major blow.

It comes as pressure on Ireland’s critical care capacity continued to mount over the weekend, with a record 219 patients being treated in ICU for Covid-19, and a total of 323 critical care beds occupied with both Covid and ...