We have a long road to travel yet.

But a glimmer of light is visible at the end of the tunnel this morning, as the number of people battling coronavirus in Ireland’s hospitals dropped below 1,000 for the first time since early January.

According to the latest figures, there are 984 Covid-19 patients in hospital this morning, 167 of whom are receiving treatment in ICU.

HSE boss Paul Reid said the drop is a relief for frontline workers, 66,000 of whom have now received two doses of the vaccine, and a sign that the situation is slowly improving.

“Better news again this morning as we have further reduced numbers of #COVID19 patients in the hospital at 984 with 167 in ICU.” Mr Reid tweeted.

Better news again this morning as we have further reduced numbers of #COVID19 patients in hospital at 984 with 167 in ICU. However, there’s nothing normal about these levels and we have a long way to go yet. But at least it feels like we have the wind behind us now. @HSELive

— Paul Reid (@paulreiddublin) February 11, 2021

“However, there’s nothing normal about these levels and we have a long way to go yet. But at least it feels like we have the wind behind us now.”

A further 1,006 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed across the country in the past 24 hours, with 54 additional deaths from the disease.

Of the new cases, 516 were in Dublin, with 63 in Cork, 46 in Galway, 43 in Meath, 36 in Louth and the remaining 302 cases spread across all other counties. 476 are men and 524 are women, with 65% aged are under 45. The median age is 35 years old.