Covid-19 increase is not confined to Dublin, warns chief medical officer

The recent increase in the spread of coronavirus was “not a Dublin-only issue”, the State’s acting chief medical officer has said.

Speaking at a National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) briefing on Thursday evening, Dr Ronan Glynn said many counties across the country had seen cases in recent weeks.

“Of course, the majority of cases we’ve seen to date has been in Dublin because a very significant portion of our population lives in Dublin, and the surrounding counties,” he said.

But there was no significant geographic region that hasn’t had cases.

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Public health officials would consider more “nuanced” approaches in the future, such as regional measures to halt outbreaks, he said.

Commenting on the decision to delay reopening pubs that do not serve food for three weeks, Dr Glynn said it would have been “foolhardy” to move ahead with the further easing of restrictions, as the number of cases was increasing.

A further 21 new cases of the virus were confirmed on Thursday.

“NPHET has never to date recommended pubs reopen . . . We recommended that restaurants could reopen,” he said. Following a Government decision, pubs that could operate as restaurants and serve a substantial meal were permitted to resume trading in late June.

Nightclubs

Dr Glynn said it would be “very difficult to see a nightclub open in the context of where we are at with this disease in Ireland and internationally.” Originally nightclubs had been due to reopen along with pubs in phase four on July 20th.

In response to concerns on social media over incoming tourists spreading the virus, Prof Philip Nolan, chair of NPHET's modelling group, said, "Twitter is not a great source of epidemiological data."

He went on to play down the overall portion of new cases which were related to foreign travel.

“What’s really going on here is the spread of the disease in congregated settings,” he said.

Dr Glynn said he appreciated that “the message is confusing” on overseas travel, as the Government plans to publish a “green list” of countries considered safe to visit next week.

The list is to be published on Monday and will be made up of countries with similar levels of the virus to Ireland. Dr Glynn said he had not seen a draft list of the countries, but said it was “going to be a small list”.

“The vast majority of countries that people in Ireland would want to go to for non-essential travel do not have a similar epidemiological profile to ourselves,” he said.

“NPHET’s position in relation to travel has been very clear for many months now, and it is to avoid non-essential travel overseas,” he said, adding the green list was a decision taken by Government.

“If we really wanted to get rid of this disease, we’d say no one should go anywhere ever, even within the country. That’s not realistic,” Dr Glynn said.

Mask-wearing

Meanwhile the North’s Department of Health reported no new coronavirus deaths on Thursday but reported 16 new cases of Covid-19.

The North’s health Minister, Robin Swann, is to propose to the Northern Executive next week that it introduce compulsory mask-wearing in Northern Ireland.

The North’s Public Health Agency (PHA) said it has identified a “cluster” of Covid-19 cases in the Limavady area of Co Derry. The agency said it is linking them to a social gathering in a private or residential setting.

According to the Department of Health’s figures, nine of the 16 new cases confirmed on Thursday are in the Causeway Coast and Glens Council area which includes Limavady.