A hospital consultant is warning restrictions may need to be reintroduced this autumn if covid infections continue to rise.
The number of cases in public hospitals has crossed the 1,000 mark for the second time this week at 1,035.
Roughly three in four of those receiving treatment are over the age of 65.
Consultant, Bill Tormey, says reintroducing mask wearing could help tackle a further surge in the coming months:
"Respiratory viruses should be met with an increase in masking, because the only thing that helps in these circumstances is masking in the population, assuming that we're not going to go into any mad lock down again - I think that would be a very very bad idea socially, a nd from the point of view of the country in general.
"I think mask wearing is something that we can anticipate will probably be needed in the autumn."
