Government expected to decide on restrictions for four more counties by the weekend

ireland
Government Expected To Decide On Restrictions For Four More Counties By The Weekend
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Digital Desk staff

Updated at 12:29

The Government is expected to decide at the end of the week whether additional restrictions are required across four more counties after a spike in Covid-19 cases on Sunday night, according to the Irish Times.

In terms of additional restrictions for other counties, public health teams are closely monitoring the situation in Cork, Wicklow, Galway and Louth.

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TheIrish Times reports that senior Government sources have described the figures as “very worrying” and have expressed concerns about the growing pressure on capacity in the health service.

It comes as the acting chief medical officer has warned the situation with Covid-19 will continue to deteriorate unless everyone plays their part to stop the spread of the virus.

Dr Ronan Glynn says there is 'no room left for complacency' and has appealed for people to reduce their contacts over the coming weeks.

430 more people have tested positive for coronavirus -- with yesterday's figure the highest since April.

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212 were in Dublin and 23 in Donegal, but doctors have voiced concerns about Cork, where there were 54 cases, and Galway which had 23.

President of the Infectious Diseases Society, professor Sam McConkey, says something has to change, or deaths will start to rise:

"Our actions are not really suitable at this point for controlling Covid-19, the way we have been behaving the last two months is not sustainable.

"We have enjoyed it and we have seen a relaxation around restrictions for businesses, but it is unsustainable to continue that."

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He said as long as there is a rise in trajectory of the virus, it will lead to younger people getting sick from Covid-19 and then spreading it to the elderly.

That will in turn lead to hospitalisation and ICU admissiona as well as deaths, according to Professor McConkey.

Continued rise

Elsewhere across the country yesterday there were 16 new cases in Louth, 15 in Monaghan, 12 in Clare, 12 in Meath, nine in Cavan, eight in Roscommon, seven in Wicklow, six in Limerick, five in Kildare and five in Tipperary.

The remaining 23 cases were spread across nine other counties.

Speaking yesterday, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said there are no plans for the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) to call an emergency meeting this week, however he warned that could change.

“There are four counties which are being looked at very carefully and they are Cork, Galway, Louth and Wicklow."

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