Coronavirus: Public are not panicking, says Cork GP

An Italian man who works in a fast food outlet in Cork was asked by his employer to go for a test to prove he didn’t have coronavirus when he returned from a holiday in his native country, a GP has said.

Dr Nick Flynn, who has several practices in Cork city, said while the public was reasonably well informed on the coronavirus, doctors would no doubt have a few jarring incidents.

“I had an Italian gentleman who worked for a fast food chain. He was just home from Italy and they asked him to go to a GP to get a fitness to work cert because of the coronavirus. That is the employer totally not understanding what he is supposed to do. And not understanding that there is no test that you can use for a person like that with no symptoms.

“The man himself had the wherewithal to ring me about it instead of just turning up at the surgery. He phoned [reception] and said ‘Look, my employer has said this’ and he was put through to me and I said, ‘You aren’t sick. You don’t need to see a doctor. You have come from an at-risk zone but you are not symptomatic.’

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“They couldn’t tell him not to work. But I thought it was a bit loose and fast from the employer.”

Dr Flynn, who is a partner with MyCorkGP.ie, said the public health information about the coronavirus seemed to be resonating with most people. His clinics are not over-run with calls from anxious patients.

A typical call in recent days involved a female patient who travelled through Hong Kong in early December who had felt sick for a few weeks. She was perfectly fine and had a normal run-of-the-mill illness.

Extra precautions

Dr Flynn said he wasn’t seeing panic from his patients. He is responsible for the care of a vulnerable cohort of patients at the Cope Foundation in the city and extra precautions are being taken to keep them safe.

“Cope Foundation provides residential care for adults with intellectual disabilities. A lot of those would be elderly and have compromised immune systems. Patients with Down syndrome who have complex heart and lung problems would all be vulnerable should there be an outbreak.

“We are making sure that all of the nurses in the various sites are aware of the risks. But it is still far more likely in Ireland that people have regular flu or the common cold.”

Dr Flynn added that he remained positive that the virus could be kept under control.