Front line medical staff in Cork say they fear overcrowding could lead to an increase in Covid-19 infections.
The number of patients on on trolleys at Cork University Hospital has been increasing this week.
There were 10 patients without a bed at the hospital on Tuesday, 15 yesterday and 21 today.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation say national intervention is needed to avoid a repeat of the record high trolley figures we saw earlier this year.
Speaking to RedFM News, Liam Conway from the INMO says there is a fundamental problem with overcrowding in Cork.
"The big thing is there's a high population density in the Cork city region and surrounding areas, and that population has increased.
"Likewise what has happened since in the early 00s is there was a reduction in bed capacity.
"So what you have essentially is a recipe for disaster, the fact that we've seen over the last decade in particular high numbers of patients on trolleys daily, not just in the winter, in the emergency departments simply because there is not enough bed capacity."
