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Irish Prime Minister and former doctor Leo Varadkar is picking up shifts as a medical doctor to help out during the Coronavirus pandemic

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The Prime Minister of Ireland Leo Varadkar is picking up shifts as a medical doctor to help out during the Coronavirus pandemic, according to CNN. He had to give up medicine when he decided to pursue a career in politics in 2013, but he has now rejoined the medical register and will work one shift a week. Varadkar will carry out phone assessments to free up staff for frontline work, according to RTE. “Many of his family and friends are working in the health service. He wanted to help out even in a small way,” a spokesperson of his said Monday morning. ~

Ireland has more than 500 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and there have been 174 deaths. The country is under a shelter in place order and gatherings among people from separate households have been banned. All schools, universities and child care facilities have been closed and only essential workers are allowed to travel to and from work. The HSE (Health Service Executive) last month urged “healthcare professionals from all disciplines who are not already working in the public health service to register to be on call for Ireland.” The agency is working to create extra hospital and care beds amid rising demand for health services. ~

Within days of the department’s call, about 70,000 former health care professionals had responded to the initiative, including Ireland’s leader. Varadkar is on his way out of power after the Irish parliamentary election yielded no clear winner. He resigned in February and said he’d continue as a caretaker leader. ~

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