The highly transmissible BA.2 variant of Covid-19 accounts for almost 95 per cent of virus infections in Ireland, latest figures show.

The spread of BA.2 infections to the near exclusion of other variants has coincided with the rise in cases in the latest wave of the pandemic, data provided by the Department of Health show.

Almost 700 patients with the virus have been admitted to hospital since Friday as the pandemic continues to heap pressure on the health service. On Sunday, 221 patients with the disease had been admitted within the past 24 hours, on top of 235 recorded on Saturday and a pandemic record of 235 on Friday.

Hospital Report

The total number of coronavirus patients in hospital has exceeded the 1,500 mark for the first time since late January 2021, reaching 1,569 on Sunday morning.

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Almost 700 patients with Covid-19 admitted to hospital since Friday

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However, the number of patients requiring admission to intensive care continues to remain stable at 52, up one on the previous day.

BA.2 accounted for just 4 per cent of cases in the third week of January, when most Covid-19 restrictions were lifted by the Government. By the end of February, when the remaining restrictions were removed, it accounted for 76 per cent of cases.

Since then, its dominance has become even more pronounced; in mid-March it accounted for 90.6 per cent of cases and on March 20th, the most recent day for which data is available, 94 per cent.

The department’s figures are estimates, culled from the results of PCR tests. BA.2 cases test positive for three gene targets whereas other Omicron sub-lineages – the originally dominant BA.1, BA.1.1 and BA.3 – test negative for one of the targets.

As a result, a PCR test with a positive S gene target along with two other positive targets is “highly likely” to be infected with BA.2, according to the department.

Genomic sequencing is required to confirm the presence of BA.2 but this is carried out in less than 5 per cent of cases and takes several weeks.

The number of Delta variant cases that were sequenced fell from 73 in the first week of 2022 to one in the third week of February and none the following week.

British authorities last week suggested a "recombinant" strain of Covid-19 involving a mix of BA.1 and BA.2 is growing 10 per cent faster from BA.2. Two recombinants that mix Delta and BA.1 are also being monitored; one, first identified in Cyprus and France, has been given the nickname "Deltacron".

‘Working closely’

Meanwhile, the Department of Health responded to a report suggesting that Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly and Chief medical officer Tony Holohan are at odds over a successor body to the National Public Health Emergency Team with a statement saying that the pair are "working closely and collaboratively" on setting up a new Covid advisory group.

The Sunday Independent reported that Mr Donnelly disagreed with proposals advanced by Dr Holohan for the new body and he wants a different kind of group to the one the chief medical officer has suggested.

The department said the aim of the new group will be to advise the Government on new variants and on the use of new and existing ways of fighting the virus.

“Our understanding and experience of this virus has greatly expanded and it is important that this is reflected in the composition of the new Covid advisory group,” it said. The group will include members with “expertise in the key specialities of public health, virology, infectious diseases, microbiology, science and epidemiological disease modelling”, it added.

Mr Donnelly is expected to bring a memo to Cabinet on the new group “in the near future”.

A Government source suggested the group will have about a dozen members but other than whoever is serving in the roles of chief medical officer and deputy chief medical officer, its membership is not finalised.