The HSE has spent €90M on vital medical supplies to protect frontline medical staff in the fight against COVID-19 across Ireland.
There was concern that many health workers did not have enough equipment as the spread of the virus threatens to ramp up in the coming days and weeks.
But now the HSE has revealed millions of surgical masks, respirators, goggles and face shields are due for delivery in the next two weeks.
It is part of a €90million investment in equipment for staff as estimated 50,000 people put their names forward to help the health service during the coronavirus outbreak.
Some 114 health care workers in Ireland have already picked up the virus — just 36 of whom are associated with foreign travel.
A statement from the HSE said: “The HSE has made significant investment (in excess of €90million to date) across a broad range of commodity groups including medical devices, personal protective equipment, lab equipment, respiratory, ventilation, patient monitoring etc.
“It should be noted the market challenges continue to increase with many export restrictions being brought in, including export limits, export bans and national requisitioning.
“This batch order includes 6.5 million surgical masks, 4.5 million respirator masks, one million goggles and one million face shields.”
Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty today told RTE that Ireland will not run out of testing equipment with tens of thousands of kits ordered already.
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