30 people were on trolleys at University Hospital Waterford this morning, according to INMO's Trolley Watch.
They were among 573 admitted patients who were waiting for beds across the country.
Cork University Hospital was the worst affected with 54 followed by Limerick on 39.
A spike in flu cases has led to more people attending hospital emergency departments this winter.
"We can help prevent flu with vaccines but some children will pick it up unfortunately"
Dr Ciara Martin gives practical advice on how the #flu can be managed at home #BeWinterReady pic.twitter.com/jLyC2mdrkL— HSE Ireland (@HSELive) December 30, 2019
The Health Minister is advising people with flu-like symptoms to isolate themselves and stay at home to treat the virus where possible.
Simon Harris admits trolley numbers are high:
"We've also seen the flu season arrive a lot earlier, we've actually seen very high trolley numbers in November and very high trolley numbers in the lead up to Christmas.
"It suggests and the data clearly backs that up, we had a lot of infection and illness in this country a lot earlier in the cycle."
