Ireland surpasses one million mark for positive Covid cases

The overall number of Covid cases in Ireland has surpassed one million. 

That's according to the Covid Data Hub, which reports 1,002,013 cases have been recorded so far this year. 

It comes after a week of record-breaking case loads, with 23,909 cases reported yesterday (January 10). 

As of this morning, 1,062 people with Covid are currently in hospital with 92 in ICU. 

HSE Chief, Paul Reid, doesn't believe the peak in the number of people getting sick and requiring hospitalisation has been reached. 

Of 307,451 Covid tests completed over the last seven days, just over half (51%) have come back positive. 

However, Mr Reid told RTÉ Morning Ireland yesterday that the numbers are "thankfully steady in ICU". 

He believes the peak of HSE staff absences is yet to come, stating, "It certainly doesn't feel like it right now. That's the sense we're getting from our teams." 

He said, "I hope now over the coming days to see more staff coming back than going out and start to get some relief on it. It still doesn't feel like we've reached that peak from a staff impact or hospitalisations impact." 

Just under 6,000 deaths have been recorded in the country since the beginning of the pandemic.