A leading hospital consultant has said Ireland could return to mask-wearing in the autumn.
Consultant Bill Tormey made his comments as infection rates spike across the country.
Despite it currently being the middle of summer, infection rates remain high as the country experiences yet another wave of the virus.
The latest figures show 1,035 people in hospital with the virus, with 46 in intensive care units.
“Respiratory viruses should be met with an increase in masking, because the only thing that actually helps in these circumstances is masking in the population,” he told Newstalk radio.
“[That’s] assuming that we aren’t going to go into any mad lockdown again, because I think that would be a very, very bad idea socially and from the point of view of the country in general.
“But I think masking is something that we can anticipate will probably be needed in the autumn.”
