LATEST: ‘No health sysem could cope with this level of surge’ – warning as 3,680 new cases of virus confirmed

A further 3,680 people have contracted the coronavirus, the Department of Health confirmed today.

And the numberas of patients being treated for the virus in hospital now stands at 543, a drop of eight since yesterday.

Of these, 97 are receiving treatment in intensive care, an increase of eight.

Health Service Executive (HSE) chief executive Paul Reid earlier said hospitalisations have increased by 20% in the last week. And he warned the health system alone cannot find a way out of the current wave of Covid-19.

He told RTÉ’s News at One: “No health system on its own can get its way out of this … and cope with that level of surge and relentlessness at a peak that we are seeing right now.”