Europe

Irish Prime Minister Returns To Medicine To Help With Pandemic

Prime Minister Varadkar's office said he will work one shift a week and will help ​assess suspected COVID-19 patients over the phone.

Irish Prime Minister Returns To Medicine To Help With Pandemic
Leo Varadkar
SMS

Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar will go back to working as a doctor to help the country amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Varadkar re-registered as a medical practitioner last month. His office told multiple media outlets he will work one shift a week within Ireland's Health Service Executive. The Irish Times reports Varadkar will help assess suspected COVID-19 patients over the phone. His office said "many of his family and friends" work in health care, and that "he wanted to help out even in a small way."

Varadkar worked as a doctor for several years before leaving the medical field in 2013 to work full-time as a politician. He resigned from his post as prime minister following the 2020 Irish general election but has agreed to stay on until a new government is formed.