The Department of Health has reported an additional 6,735 new cases of Covid 19 today.
Figures compiled this morning show 461 virus patients are receiving treatment in the nation's hospitals.
91 of those are in intensive care units across the country.
Professor Sam McConkey of the Royal College of Surgeons says Omicron is causing a 'frightening' rise in case numbers in recent days:
"At the technical level, it's an R-number of around 4. That means every five days, it goes up fourfold. So it's doubling every two to two and a half days. That's a very fast rate of growth. I know people may struggle to see what does that really mean. It means over 20 days that goes up 1000 fold. And I think that's what people are now seeing in the numbers of total cases. It's 1000-fold growth in 20 days, which is truly a frightening speed of rise."
