Face mask advice issued for public transport as Covid-19 hospital numbers rise

The use of face masks on public transport and in healthcare settings is being advised as the number of people in hospital with Covid-19 rose by 60 in just 24 hours.

There were 453 patients in hospital with Covid-19 on Monday morning, up from the previous day's total of 397.

Latest figures available show there were 24 patients in ICU with Covid-19 on Sunday, June 12 

The Department of Health has issued an advisory online stating: “Wearing a face mask is advised on public transport and in healthcare settings.

“People who are vulnerable to Covid-19 are advised to be aware of the risk associated with activities they may choose to engage in and to wear a face mask for enhanced protection.”

It also advised that people "should consider" wearing a mask in "crowded indoor settings" and individuals should not be "discouraged" from wearing masks.

The mandatory face masks rule for public transport and shops was dropped at the end of February. 

Concerns were raised on Friday by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly about rising Covid-19 numbers. 

“What we’re seeing is a very significant increase in a very short period of time. What concerns me is that when you look at previous patterns of hospitalisation, they spiked very, very quickly,” Mr Donnelly said.

“Now thankfully, because of the vaccine programme, and because so many people participated, even in the Omicron wave, the numbers in intensive care and the numbers who became really, very sick and the mortality levels stayed thankfully low.

“However, we still had an awful lot of Covid patients in the hospitals, and that leads to cancellation of elective care, which has huge knock on effects for non-Covid patients," Minister Donnelly said.