Ms Phil Ní Sheaghdha:

Our members will say one of the lessons learned is that the isolation of patients whose status is unknown should have been dealt with earlier. This is very difficult to do if one is awaiting swabs and the results are taking a long time to return. This has improved. We certainly have a huge problem with the availability of isolation facilities in acute and long-term care settings. We need more isolation facilities. We know from our figures, which we count on a daily basis, that we have overcrowding at present in our emergency departments. We do not know the status of a lot of the patients when the areas are overcrowded. This is a recipe for disaster.