People Before Profit, following a briefing from the INMO and IAEM, said that they are echoing the call from the representative bodies for the government to instigate measures to help curb the spread of Covid-19 in order to relieve pressure on health service staff.
People Before Profit TD and Health spokesperson Gino Kenny said: “What we heard from the INMO and the IAEM today was shocking. We were told that the INMO’s figures for people admitted to hospital, but on trolleys due to no bed being available, reached 11,001 people this month, the highest figure for the month of March on record.
“The desperation of nurses, midwives and doctors was palpable today. They feel abandoned by the Government and the Minister for Health as COVID-19 runs out of control.
“People Before Profit fully support the call of the INMO and IAEM for immediate measures to reduce the intensity of COVID-19 infection and reduce cross infection.”
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy also attended the briefing and afterwards called on other opposition parties to publicly back the INMO’s plea. “People Before Profit have been alone on the opposition benches calling for these measures. When the government lifted the requirement for masks, we warned it was rushed. Mask wearing in crowded settings is a simple, small task we can all do to protect workers in those settings, and vulnerable people who also need to use public transport, shops etc. It is time for Sinn Féin and other parties to support nurses and other health service staff by publicly backing their call for mask wearing and working from home.”
“In addition to masks, we need action on ventilation, and fundamentally we need extra hospital capacity. It is now almost 4 months since PBP’s Ventilation Bill was passed, it should be implemented urgently, to reduce the spread of Covid. Two years into this pandemic, the government has still not addressed the issue of hospital and ICU capacity in this country, leaving our health service very vulnerable.”