The number of Covid patients in hospital has fallen by 12% in the past week.
The latest figure is 1,433 - nearly 200 less than last Monday.
But it remains significantly higher than last summer, when it dropped below 40.
Former head of the HSE, Tony O'Brien, says it will be a long time before it returns to that level.
"I think there's a strong possibility that we will see very large numbers of people in hospital on an ongoing basis, both those who are there because they have Covid, and those who are found to have Covid while they're there.
"That is going to pose a huge challenge for the health system, and consequently for all of us for those who won't otherwise be able to get into hospital because those beds are going to be occupied by Covid."
