654 patients are on trolleys in hospitals across the country including 50 at CUH and 25 at the Mercy University Hospital
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has called for direct government intervention to deal with the trolley crisis.
4,300 staff in the HSE are absent due to covid and 1,000 are out in nursing homes.
The head of the HSE has appealed to the public to get back to basics when it comes to dealing with the high number of Covid cases.
HSE chief executive Paul Reid says the public can take steps to help deal with the situation
