Irish PM's Return To Duty As Doctor In The Middle Of COVID-19

Perdana Menteri Irlandia Varadkar (Twitter @LeoVaradkar)

JAKARTA - As well as leading the government, Irish Prime Minister (PM) Leo Varadkar is returning to work as a doctor to help provide medical services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Quoted by the BBC, PM Varadkar had to return to work as a general practitioner at a hospital in his city. This profession was practiced before he was elected as the youngest Prime Minister in Ireland.

Sang Taoiseach is the nickname pinned by the PM in Ireland, when he resigned as a general practitioner in 2013. Now after seven years, Varadkar has again stepped in as a doctor to treat COVID-19 patients.

"A lot of his family and friends work in the health service. He wants to help in real ways even in small ways," a spokesman told the reporter quoted by NPR.

As reported by The Irish Times, Varadkar will return to work in weekly shifts. During the coronavirus pandemic, he reportedly helped the service in assessing patients via the telephone network.

I visited McKee Barracks today to see the work of the Joint Taskforce on Covid 19. The Defense Forces are providing a great support role to the HSE as part of the national effort, particularly with tracing, testing, transport and tenting. #InThisTogether #StayHomeSaveLives pic.twitter.com/Q4WzJB4hrD

- Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) April 6, 2020

The move follows the outcome of an appeal filed by the Irish Health Services Executive (HSE) for former healthcare workers who have left the profession to return to work during the pandemic.

The reason is, the HSE last month urged health professionals from all branches of disciplines who have not worked in public health services to register immediately. HSE is indeed aggressively providing additional hospitals and care beds amid the increasing spread of the new corona virus pandemic.

Varadkar (41) is an Indian born to a doctor from India and a nurse from Ireland.

In Ireland, until this news was made, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 was 5,364 with 174 deaths. Meanwhile, the number of those who were successfully healed was 25 people.

As happened in many countries, Ireland has implemented physical distancing. There all schools, colleges and child care facilities have been closed, while only essential workers are allowed to travel to and from work.