As of Monday, February 5, there were 272 patients on trolleys in Irish hospitals as a number of hospitals continued to experience high levels of activity due to  high rates of winter viruses. 

At midnight, February 5, 352 people were awaiting discharge and a number of sites are extremely busy. 

According to Damien McCallion, the HSE’s Chief Operations Officer: “Many of our emergency departments were extremely busy this weekend.

"While we have seen a dip in numbers of Covid-19 and flu from the January peak, there are still high levels of respiratory illness circulating and impacting our hospitals. Those who believe they may be seriously ill and require emergency care should come to hospital, but we would ask others who are not seriously ill, to consider seeking support from pharmacists, GPs, GP Out of Hours Services and Injury Units”.