Ireland’s hospitals are now under “extreme pressure" due to a surge in COVID cases, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.
The union says 100 nurses are out of work at Cork University Hospital for reasons related to the virus.
The hospital also had no available ICU or critical care beds as of 6.30pm last night.
One ward at CUH has been closed because only four nurses were available to staff it.
The INMO says that illustrates just how severe the pressure is on hospitals as cases of the virus continue to increase nationwide.
As of 8am this morning, there were 673 patients in hospital with coronavirus.
