'Covid numbers likely much higher than being reported'

The Health Minister says hundreds of thousands of people are getting Covid every week - but there are no plans for new restrictions.

Image via Twitter/@DonnellyStephen

Stephen Donnelly says "serious measures" would be needed to control the surge of infections driven by the BA2 variant.

Over 10 thousand daily cases are currently being reported - but he told a private Fianna Fail meeting last night the true numbers are likely "several times" that.

The Irish Independent reports Minister Donnelly said the high cases are putting pressure on hospitals - but the number of people in ICU remains "relatively low".