Covid-19: 4,962 new cases and 7 further deaths; hospitals are under “extreme” pressure

The Department of Health has confirmed 4,962 new cases of Covid-19 and 7 further deaths.

There have now been a total of 101,887 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 2,259 deaths related to the virus in Ireland.

According to rte

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has said hospitals are under “extreme” pressure and the progress on keeping case numbers down “seems to be completely undone”.

INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said that although staff are far more experienced in dealing with Covid-19 than they were at the start of the pandemic “the sheer numbers are difficult to cope with”.

She said the Government and the Health Service Executive “must focus on supporting exhausted frontline healthcare workers”.

Ms Ní Sheaghda said that over 100 nurses at Cork University Hospital are out for Covid reasons, including in the intensive care unit, and one ward has been closed as there were only four nurses available to staff it.

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