Covid — Five years on: ‘There was an air of panic around what was coming'

Looking back five years on from the global pandemic, Cork University Hospital consultant Arthur Jackson says the concern in the early days was that covid could 'overwhelm hospital resources'

Consultant Arthur Jackson: ‘You can’t deny oxygen to the people who don’t have covid. It was that balance to make sure we had enough resources.’ Picture: Dan Linehan

As news about a new virus in China began to spread around the world in January 2020, doctors and other staff at Cork University Hospital met to discuss any potential fall-out for their patients.

Some thought it could take months to reach Ireland, while others looked at the web of international flights into every airport and worried.