Cork University Hospital the most overcrowded in the country today 

Cork University Hospital is  currently the most overcrowded hospital in Ireland with 57 people being treated on trollies, amid restrictions in place due to an outbreak of norovirus.

The hospital is ahead of University Hospital Limerick, usually the most overcrowded, which has 47 patients on trolleys.

There are a total of 78 people on trolleys in Cork today, including 11 at Bantry General Hospital and eight at the Mercy University Hospital.

It comes as HSE South West advised on Friday that the highest level of visitor restrictions due to a norovirus outbreak would remain in place at Cork University Hospital (CUH) for the bank holiday weekend.

Unapproved visitors are not allowed entry to CUH due to an unprecedented surge of norovirus, a winter vomiting bug, which began two weeks ago across the hospital.

Emergency Departments are often busier around bank holiday weekends and see the sickest patients first, meaning a that patients with non-urgent injuries may face longer waiting times," said  HSE spokesperson.

So far this year, 2,397 patients have been treated on trolleys in CUH, 1,136 in the Mercy and 413 in Bantry. 

The figure includes 523, 287 and 88 respectively in March to date.