The secretary of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has urged Stephen Donnelly to declare a "national emergency" - as over 650 people are waiting on a hospital trolley this morning.
That's one of the highest numbers since the pandemic began, with wards all over the country being affected.
Several hospitals throughout Ireland have put in place visiting bans as Covid spikes, with high case numbers as a result of people entering hospitals for other procedures and catching it while in them.
University Hospital Limerick (84), Letterkenny University Hospital (61) and St Vincent's (58) are the three worst affected hospitals in terms of trolley numbers.
Of the country's 32 main hospitals, only five have zero patients waiting on a trolley.
INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said:
“We have seen a 15% increase of patients on trolleys, with 660 patients for whom there are no beds.
"The Minister for Health needs to intervene and declare this trolley chaos for what it is - a national emergency.
"A range of measures must be taken now in the short to medium term including the curtailment of all non-emergency, elective care and the reintroduction of mask wearing in crowded and indoor settings.
Ms Ní Sheghada added that the INMO believed one specific Covid regulation returning could cause a major difference.
“As of Tuesday morning, 7,753 patients have been without a bed in our hospitals since the mask requirement was dropped on February 28th. ESRI research published today shows that two-thirds of people are still wearing masks on public transport and when shopping. If we could increase this number through a re-introduction of mask wearing, it would help ease transmission numbers.
“Our nurses and midwives are burnt out and exhausted. We can’t expect them to be able to provide safe care in environments that are overcrowded while dealing with a highly transmissible airborne virus.”
READ MORE: Covid Ireland: Almost 65,000 cases confirmed since St Patrick's Day amid concern about new variant
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter.
