There are huge delays in Dublin's accident and emergency departments with some patients reporting waits of up to 15 hours to see a doctor.
Sources have also told Dublin Live there have been long waiting times in hospitals across the city with one visitor to an A&E department comparing the scenes to a "war zone".
Hospital bosses said there has been an influx of patients presenting with Covid symptoms as well as those with other serious illnesses which are contributing to the delays.
Some "non-urgent elective in-patient and day case procedures" have been cancelled this week in the capital's children's hospitals due to the "extremely high" number of patients in emergency departments.
Today, there are nine children on trolleys in Temple Street and seven in Crumlin.
According to the INMO's trolley watch there are 68 patients on trolleys in hospitals in the capital.
Dublin Live contacted a number of hospitals across the city for comment on the long A&E wait times.
A spokesperson for the Mater and St Vincent's said patients in the Emergency Department are "are triaged appropriately and depending on the severity of your condition, you may need to wait for a longer period of time to be seen."
They said: "Emergency Departments (ED) across the country are experiencing high numbers of seriously ill patients requiring care.
"St Vincent’s University Hospital and the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital Emergency Departments are extremely busy with people attending for a range of complex and diverse treatments, including people coming in with symptoms of Covid-19.
"If you do come to the Emergency Department you are triaged appropriately and depending on the severity of your condition, you may need to wait for a longer period of time to be seen. Patients requiring urgent care will be prioritised.
"Hospital Management would like to thank the public for their support and understanding at this time."
Dublin Live has also contacted Beaumont and St James's Hospitals for comment.
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