Peak of Covid impact on hospitals could be four weeks away

Emergency department nurse Karen McGowan said patients can collapse in the waiting room where she works as they have waited so long to be seen. Picture: Dan Linehan

Nurses and doctors working in emergency departments have called on the Government to reintroduce mandatory mask-wearing and ask people to work from home to protect the “fragile” health system.

There are 1,535 people with Covid-19 in hospitals on Thursday, and it is “nonsense” to downplay the impact of this on other patients, a health union briefing for politicians and media was told.