Over 60,000 healthcare professionals have now responded to the HSE's call to help during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis.

The 'Be on Call for Ireland' initiative has been inundated with applications since its launch and the HSE is now working through these.

"We want to thank all who have been in contact to assist our health services in answering the call in such numbers. The HSE is now analysing all the information from the registrations, and we ask for your continued patience. If you have registered, we may be in contact, please bear with us," commented Anne Marie Hoey, the HSE's national director for human resources.

Currently, the HSE is particularly focused on recruiting healthcare professionals who are available to work immediately and who are not already providing healthcare in any healthcare setting.

This group is being contacted first and interviews of doctors and nurses in this category have already begun.

"We are moving through a shortened selection process, which includes interviews and checking professional registration. This started on March 20. These are important steps which we need to take to ensure that our services remain safe. As soon as we have completed this category we will move forward to work with the rest of the registrations," the HSE explained.

Any healthcare professionals who are not already providing care in a public or private capacity, can register their interest on www.hse.ie/oncall.

For more information on COVID-19, click here.