The INMO is calling on the government to return to mandatory masks on public transport.
Some 21 people were on trolleys in Naas General Hospital as of 8am this morning, according to the INMO Trolley watch figures.
Across the country, 517 admitted patients were waiting for beds this morning.
Some 439 patients were waiting in the emergency department, while 78 were in wards elsewhere in the hospital.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation is calling on the government to return to mandatory masks on public transport.
However, a leading immunovirologist feels there is no need to reintroduce mandatory face masks.
Professor Liam Fanning admits masks do provide some protection, however he said the transmissibility of the virus has increased.
It comes as Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said last week that we're in a summer wave of Covid -19.
The UCC Professor thinks wearing masks is probably no longer sufficient: