'All need to play our part', says chief executive of HSE as hospitals come under pressure

Chief executive of the Health Service Executive (HSE) Paul Reid has said action is needed from the public to help alleviate pressure on the health service after it was revealed more than 4000 HSE staff are out of work due to Covid-19.

Speaking today, Thursday 11, Mr Reid said that it is up to the public to control the situation through collective individual actions adding the "health system alone cannot get us out of this".

He continued to say that no health system in the world could cope with a third of its bed capacity being taken up by Covid-19 patients adding better resourced health systems elsewhere in Europe were also under pressure.

Today's figures show 551 people are in hospital with Covid, up 20 per cent in one week, however, there have also been an increase in seasonal and respiratory viruses with emergency departments experiencing a 20 per cent increase on pre-pandemic levels.

Mr Reid said nearly a third of intensive care beds are occupied by Covid-19 patients, with a further 250 people on advanced respiratory support or non-invasive ventilators adding hospitals were under significant strain but outbreaks in congregated settings and nursing homes were down, which is probably due to the vaccine booster scheme.

“We really need to relieve pressure on the health system. Boosters will be part of it, test and trace will be part of it, but we really all need to play our part in reducing the virus in circulation,” he said.