The National Virus Reference Laboratory says the Delta variant of Covid-19 will 'almost certainly' be dominant here in two weeks' time. The Delta strain accounted for 55 per cent of cases last week.
Dr Cillian De Gascun says the variant, first discovered in India, is at least twice as transmissible as the Covid strain we experienced last summer.
Dr De Gascun says this will almost certainly lead to 'Delta dominance' by the middle of July - leading to an increase in case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths in the following weeks.
He says the Delta variant is already dominant in the UK, accounting for about 97 per cent of cases - with case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths increasing in recent weeks.
