Good Friday.. Will Be Bad

HSE braces for surge in cases as hotel to hold 1,200 quarantine beds 5,000

- Neil Leslie

Health chiefs are bracing for a busy Easter weekend in the coronavirus surge, it has emerged.

Chief operating officer Ann O’Connor revealed the HSE is planning for the peak to strike between Good Friday and Easter Tuesday.

HSE chief Paul Reid said it was “impossible” to predict when Ireland will reach the peak of the pandemic and warned we are not there yet.

He added: “We have to plan for the worst case scenario. We have to be prepared.”

Ms O’Connor added: “We are certainly working towards a peak in mid-April over the next two to three weeks – that’s what we are planning for but we don’t know. We have to work on some basis when it comes to planning and we are planning for a peak between April 10 and 14.

“The other thing to reiterate is a peak will come and go but we will continue to be very busy. It’s not like all of this will go away after the peak.