CONCERNS about shortages of specialist face masks worn by frontline NHS staff who test for coronavirus have been raised by one of Northern Ireland's top doctors.
Dr Seamus O'Reilly, medical director of the Northern Health Trust, said while his trust has almost 4,000 of the infection control masks - which can only be worn once - they will need much more in the event of a widespread outbreak.
"These are single use masks which can be used for four hours. The difficulty is that the masks are made in China so we will run into a shortage of supply at some stage," he said.
"We have a huge amount at present - but you could use them fairly quickly. We're planning ahead in each trust, we're planning for a surge in cases and will need back up equipment.
"We may have to move to a different type of mask."
Earlier this week health minister Robin Swann confirmed the health service had been previously stockpiling medicine and specialist medical clothing and masks when they were planning for a no-deal Brexit.
Dr O'Reilly told The Irish News that while assurances had been given regarding a "sufficient" stockpile, uncertainty remained.
He also said that long-term planning was looking at 20 per cent of NHS staff being affected and absent from work.
"This is worst case scenario planning so we are looking at what we do if this continues for another six to nine months," he said.
"We're fairly advanced in our planning. For several weeks, we're been having daily meetings with the Health and Social Care Board.
"But the difficulty is that the anxiety isn't just among the public, but among our healthcare staff . This is something we have to manage as well. The modelling will say you might lose 20 per cent of your staff at any one time either caring for someone who has the illness or if they have the virus themselves. So we're looking at a business continuity - with a view that if you lose 20 per cent we have to downturn in other areas."
