Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

According to the HSE, there were 490 patients on trolleys awaiting admission this morning but it is anticipated the majority of those will be in a bed by this evening. Nonetheless, it is a figure that is very high. There are a number of factors contributing to it; it is not just about Covid.

On mask-wearing, the advice from Government and the CMO is very clear, namely, we encourage people to wear masks on public transport, in healthcare settings and also in other crowded indoor settings. However, this sub-lineage of Omicron is very infectious. It is probably 30% more infectious than the previous Omicron variant and for that reason we are expecting to see an increase in cases over the coming weeks. The good news is that Denmark, which was the country to first experience this Omicron-plus sub-lineage is now seeing cases falling very substantially. We expect that to happen here in a few weeks time.

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