Covid-19: Omicron wave to peak but concerns remain over record case numbers

With one of the highest incidence rates in the world, how will hospitals cope in the next few weeks?

Covid ICU unit: Fewer people are expected to progress to intensive care units with the Omicron variant. Picture by Getty

With confirmed cases tracking one of the most pessimistic scenarios presented by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) in early December, daily cases of the Omicron variant in Ireland were projected to peak at between 20,000 and 25,000 by this weekend.

They are now expected to begin to fall swiftly. Nphet expects they will plummet to below 10,000 a day by the end of January, below 1,000 by the end of February, and below ...