Covid hospital cases on the rise as Varadkar says “summer wave” could be starting

"Immunity is waning," the Tánaiste said.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said that Ireland could be seeing the start of a "summer wave" of Covid-19. This is as the number of cases of the virus in Irish hospitals has risen in recent days. According to Ireland's Covid-19 Data Hub, confirmed cases of Covid in hospitals stood at 311 at 8am on Thursday (9 June). This is after increasing from 180 on Tuesday, 31 May. Meanwhile, as of 11.30am on Thursday, 9 June, the number of confirmed cases of the virus in intensive care units was 24. Though this is a slight decrease from the previous day's figure of 27, ICU cases had previously been on the rise this week. "Number of people in hospital who are positive for Covid has risen above 300," Vardkar wrote on Twitter. "ICU cases rising too. Could be a blip. Could be [the] start of a summer wave. "Immunity is waning though for sure. Please get your booster if you haven’t." https://twitter.com/LeoVaradkar/status/1534989920003145742 Main image via Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie