Wearing a mask on public transport is once again a “no brainer”, a Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases has said. 

COVID cases are predicted to surge as Ireland heads into the winter and experts have raised concerns that the health service will be overwhelmed by a ‘twindemic’ of flu and COVID patients. 

“More people are going to be infected, more people are going to go home and spread the infection to family members,” UCD’s Professor Jack Lambert told Newstalk. 

“So, wearing a mask on public transport is a no brainer.

"It’s a sensible thing to do. It’s part of other mitigation strategies.” 

Passengers wearing face masks on the Luas, 11-09-2020. Image: Leah Farrell/RollingNews

Yesterday, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said there were no plan to make masks mandatory once again but said that the low number of people wearing them was “something that is a concern for me”.

“It would be nice if everyone were to just do it,” Professor Lambert said. 

“There are consequences for catching COVID. 

“Now, people are not dying like they were before in the first wave of COVID with Delta but Omicron is much more infectious; much more people are getting infected, people are going to be out of work.” 

HSE staff have been warned to expect up to 20,000 patients with respiratory diseases this winter.

Main image: People wearing face coverings on a Luas tram in Dublin in July 2020. Picture by: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo