Leo Varadkar has told the Dáil an increase in the number of excess deaths "probably relates" to the fact that RSV, influenza, and Covid are all circulating at the moment

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has called for stronger public health advice on mask-wearing amid the hospital overcrowding crisis

Stephen Donnelly said an early wave of the flu season, combined with Covid and RSV, has put hospitals under increased pressure.

Consultant Professor Declan Lyons has repeated a warning about the “inhumane” and dangerous conditions in the emergency department in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) because of serious overcrowding

The HSE's chief operations officer said Emergency Departments are facing an "unprecedented combination of very high levels of flu, Covid-19 and other respiratory illnesses"

There has also been an uptick in admissions for flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)

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Dr Colm Henry said Covid cases were up 75% and hospital admissions up 90% in December

502 patients are waiting in the emergency department, while 105 are in wards elsewhere in the hospital.

A steep jump in RSV cases saw hospitalisations rise from 129 in September, to 753 in October, before reaching 807 last month.

A spokesperson for the Irish College of General Practitioners has advised parents to watch out for possible signs of Strep A infection as children’s immune systems have become more prone to infections following Covid lockdowns.

Emergency medicine paediatric consultant Dr Carol Blackburn said children aged under three months are the most vulnerable.