Unions call for Health and Safety Authority to investigate Covid cases in healthcare staff

Nurse Siobhan Murphy was "bed-bound with headaches", doesn't expect to return to work until October or November. Picture: Oireachtas TV/PA Wire

The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) must be given the power to investigate the high Covid-19 infection rate among healthcare staff, the Oireachtas Committee on Covid-19 heard.

The committee heard from trade unions representing healthcare workers about high exposure rates to Covid-19, which has led to more than 8,300 healthcare staff contracting the virus to date, one-third of which were nurses and midwives.