"In January we’ll see a significant multiple in the number of deaths from both November and December."

Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health Dr Tony Holohan has warned there will be a sharp increase in deaths in Ireland this month. Speaking on Newstalk’s Pat Kenny show on Tuesday, Dr Holohan said the increase in deaths would lag behind the surge in new cases and hospitalisations. He warned the mortality rate for January would be higher than the rates of December and November. However, Dr Holohan said it was still not too late to change things and called on people to continue to reduce their contacts. He said there have been "early signs of encouragement" that people are reducing their contacts in recent days. "In January we’ll see a significant multiple in the number of deaths from both November and December," Dr Holohan said. "We just haven’t seen it yet because it’s going to lag." Dr Holohan explained the high numbers of cases in recent days was a result of fewer people coming forward to be tested over the Christmas period, and higher numbers presenting themselves for testing in the days after. Six further people with Covid-19 were reported to have died and 6,110 new cases of the virus were confirmed on Monday. The CEO of the HSE Paul Reid has said the HSE is now “under real threat” as Covid-19 hospitalisations have risen close to the peak of those seen during the first wave of the pandemic last year, “Our health service is under real threat now. We’re heading to the peak of hospitalisations as in the 1st Wave,” Reid said on Twitter. “Primary & GP services are under relentless strain. Swabbing centres have positivity rates from 40 to 55%.”