The HSE is warning of the coming winter due to the increased threat of flu and Covid.
Latest figures show there are 1,018 patients with the virus in hospital, with around half being incidental admissions.
All patients in hospital with the virus require isolation and extra space.
The HSE's Chief Clinical Officer, Colm Henry, says this wave is expected:
"What we have here is a virus getting used to us we're getting used to it. All viruses mutate to be able to infect humans but most of those mutations don't matter. But every so often a new mutation comes along which can displace everything else and push it, push it out of the bed and become the predominant variant and thus we're seeing this particular surge."
