More than half of Covid-19 patients that need to be moved to intensive care units are aged under 65 as the hospital system remains under significant pressure.
Health Service Executive CEO Paul Reid said there are 1,965 patients with Covid-19 in hospitals, with 219 of these in ICUs. Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, he said there are a total of 318 people in ICUs, leaving 26 adult ICU beds free across the country. "The phase is advancing into an extremely perilous position for us", he said.
Mr Reid said that "once we get to the 350 figure it will be more challenging to provide the same levels of care." He said patients were moved from the west of the country to the east last night as part of the national surge plan.