Irish Examiner view: In praise of all the workers

For our health service staff, the demands are getting greater as we enter what is traditionally the busiest time of year.

A brief thought on this St Stephen’s Day for all those workers who have had to put in a shift so the rest of us can enjoy our festive break. That includes all of those who had to toil in the kitchens so that families and friends could sit around the table for a proper Christmas spread. Let us hope they got full support for the washing up!

This was Ireland’s first Christmas for three years without the shadow of Covid-related restrictions. While the impetus towards working from home may have eased the conflict between professional and domestic duties for some, the reality is that many do not have that advantage. Doing the job means turning up at another location, which can be challenging.

For our health service staff, the demands are getting greater as we enter what is traditionally the busiest time of year. The number of patients with Covid-19 is 68% higher than it was two weeks ago, and hospitals are facing their worst-ever winter for overcrowding. This is driven additionally by high levels of respiratory viruses, with flu and RSV at near-record levels.

It has been popular in the past few years to talk about the “new normal” and experts predicted that living with Covid would be part of that. This is our first such experience and it promises to be tricky in the weeks ahead. But given that any further suggestions of lockdown will not be tolerated by the general public, it is something we must face and overcome.