"We need to turn this tide again."
Paul Reid has warned the public of the "huge stress" on healthcare in Ireland due to the rising number of Covid cases in the country.
The HSE CEO made the comments on Twitter on Monday morning (28 March).
https://twitter.com/paulreiddublin/status/1508352326532280321?s=20&t=15-oLswxFW_9H-aI3NL6yw
"1,625 Covid positive patients in hospital now is causing huge stress on the healthcare system," Reid said.
"We need to turn this tide again ASAP & repeat doing the basics.
"Please wear your mask appropriately, come forward for your booster or primary vaccine & isolate if (you have) symptoms," he concluded.
Covid cases have shot up in recent weeks, with nearly 20,000 cases reported on Friday (25 March) alone.
As of last Friday, 1,422,945 cases were confirmed in Ireland since the beginning of the pandemic.
In conversation on
Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1 last Wednesday (25 March), Donegal-based GP Denis McCauley urged the public to respond appropriately to the new wave of Covid, particularly in the wake of a rise in hospitalisations.
"I think there is sort of a, 'Speak to the hand' type thing – 'Problem? What problem?' – I think there is a problem. And we need to recognise it.
"The tone is, 'There's no problem here, what's the problem? Covid again? Give our heads peace.' – I think there is a problem, I think we need to do something.
"We need to change things, subtly initially, and hopefully if that works then we won't need to think about dreadful things like mandatory issues after that."
Dr Tony Holohan announced on Friday that he will be
stepping down as Ireland's Chief Medical Officer.
In a statement on the Government's website, Dr Holohan said serving as Chief Medical Officer has been a "great privilege".
"In particular, these past two years have presented extreme challenges to public health globally and I have been honoured to work alongside exceptional colleagues in the Department of Health, the HSE, the wider health service and across Government," he added.
