Irish Examiner view: Don’t ignore mental health pandemic

We cannot lose sight of the sharp increase in the numbers of people experiencing anxiety, depression, and stress.

The language of a crisis is never reassuring. While the arrival of the first Covid-19 vaccines has given new hope, those life-saving vials have been administered against a background of disturbing reports that the virus is “absolutely rampant” and “out of control” and that hospitals will soon be “overrun”.

These are justified, if alarming, descriptions at a time when medical experts predict that daily coronavirus cases will double to 6,000 within days. It is an appropriate response, then, to be on high alert and to continue to abide by the level 5 restrictions now in place as part of the country’s third national lockdown.