Expenditure on personal protective equipment (PPE) this year is expected to reach €1 billion, according to HSE chief executive officer Paul Reid.
Costs are currently running at €250 million per quarter, he revealed at a press briefing today at the Mater Hospital in Dublin. "Costs are at a scale that nobody could have foreseen," said the HSE CEO.
Mr Reid says the current demand for masks alone is 1.2 million a day or nine million a week. He said the HSE now has a new supply deal with South Korea that will supply Ireland with 120 million masks.
He said the numbers in ICU continue to trend downwards and are now 55% lower than the peak of 160. "We can now commence non-Covid services but it won't be easy." He said there would be three