The General Secretary of the INMO has called for the reintroduction of mandatory mask wearing in certain places. Phil Ní Sheaghdha warned that the hospitals do not have the capacity to cope with even a small increase in Covid cases.
Her comments came after the Department of Health reported 63,954 cases of Covid-19 since St Patrick's Day. There were 1,308 people in hospital yesterday morning, with 49 in ICU.
Ms Ní Sheaghdha said there were 570 people on trolleys around the country yesterday, which she described as extraordinary and the equivalent of one full acute hospital.
She said INMO members are reporting high levels of Covid cases, which is putting additional pressure on an already busy and overcrowded system. "We are managing, but we are getting to a point where it is unsafe care and nobody can stand over that," Ms Ní Sheaghdha said.