By Rebecca Black, PA
There has been a call to reintroduce public health measures amid a “chaotic situation” in Irish hospitals.
There were almost 40,000 cases of Covid-19 reported on Monday, from the previous three days.
There were 1,624 Covid-19 patients in hospital, with 54 in intensive care.
The Emergency Department Taskforce, which includes representatives of hospital groups, the Department of Health, patient advocates, staff bodies and the HSE, met on Monday to discuss pressures on emergency services.
A letter requesting the reintroduction of public health measures was to be sent to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly and chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan on Monday evening.
The request includes the reintroduction of compulsory mask-wearing.
It comes after the HSE's chief warned no modelling is showing current numbers following “a downward trend”.
HSE director general Paul Reid on Monday said the high level of cases in the country made it "feel like we’re entering rather than leaving something."
The experience of other countries in Europe was that the current variant waned after a while, so that meant Ireland was likely to be dealing with the current wave of the virus “well into April.”
The HSE was trying to mitigate the impact of the high numbers and the subsequent pressure on the public health system, he said. Private hospitals were also being impacted by staff being absent because of Covid-19 and complete speciality teams were absent.
Mr Reid repeated a call for the 720,000 people now eligible for their booster vaccine to get it as 35 per cent of Covid-19 patients in hospitals have not been vaccinated and 50 per cent in ICU have not received their booster.
“Vaccines work. It’s back to basics.”
-Additional reporting by Vivienne Clarke
