Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has called on the HSE to deploy “all resources available” to tackle a wave of respiratory viruses.
He said emergency measures including extra overtime and the use of private hospitals for any overflow will be used. Flu and RSV cases have rocketed this month while Covid cases are up 75% prompting HSE fears the country’s hospitals will not cope.
Mr Varadkar said: “I want all resources available to be deployed immediately and over the winter period, and that includes private hospitals, use of overtime. We’ve never had more doctors, nurses, midwives working in our health service, we’ve never had a bigger budget.”
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Chief Medical Officer Professor Breda Smyth urged the public to wear masks as Covid cases spike. She told RTE this week: “Over Christmas we will see large scale social mixing.
"We will also see mass transit of people on public transport going from east to west, or west to east, or north to south. And one thing we all can do to protect the vulnerable on the public transport, but also ourselves, is wear a mask.
“Our population and society has demonstrated how we can act in solidarity with one another and that we do care for one another.
“I think if we are to wear a mask, now is the time to wear it.” The country’s top doc added: “Wear that mask on public transport and also in the shopping period over the coming week. It’s really important to wear a mask on public transport.
“There are a lot of vulnerable people who do attend religious services, so I think it’s important you make that key decision. In the first instance, if you have symptoms, that you don’t attend the service.
“Secondly, if you are in a vulnerable group, it is recommended that you would wear a mask if you are going into a crowded setting. And I think as a population then, people who are not in a vulnerable population category, we can always make that protective measure to care for others and to ensure that we reduce transmission.”
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