Anger at lack of cross-border travellers data
Stormont frustration at lack of information on those crossing border after arrival in Republic
ARLENE Foster and Michelle O’neill have expressed frustration at the Irish Government for not sharing information about travellers crossing over the border during the pandemic.
DUP First Minister Mrs Foster said “we need to get a solution to this and we need to do it now” after raising concerns about the number of people arriving in the Republic over Christmas and heading to Northern Ireland.
FIRST Minister Arlene Foster has expressed her frustration with the Irish Government for failing to share information about travellers crossing over the border during the pandemic.
And speaking at a joint press conference in Dungannon yesterday, Deputy First Minister Michelle O’neill agreed it’s “a matter of urgency” that agreement is reached on the issue, adding she regrets it has not happened before now.
Mrs Foster said the data gap was of particular concern at Christmas when a large number of people arrived into the Republic, with many subsequently travelling north.
“Ministers have asked us to elevate the matter and raise it again urgently with the Taoiseach,” she said.
Mrs O’neill added: “The Common Travel Area does serve us well and has done for years, but we need heads of government to come together, so we have agreed to pursue meetings with the Taoiseach, the Prime Minister and ourselves and that needs to happen as a matter of urgency.
“It has been going on for far too long, and I think there was a general feeling of frustration around the whole of the Executive table that we need to get a solution to this and we need to do it now.”
The Executive has agreed new restrictions on international travel that requires arriving passengers to produce a negative Covid-19 test undertaken within 72 hours of departure.
The requirement for these travellers to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival remains in place.
Mrs Foster said the reproduction rate of Covid-19 has been reduced to “between 0.7 and 0.9” here.
Yesterday it was reported a further 16 people had died after testing positive for Covid-19 and 973 new cases of the virus had been diagnosed.
It brings the death toll here to 1,533 and the total number of confirmed cases since the outbreak to 92,782. Some 7,769 people have tested positive in the last seven days. Hospitals are at 96% occupancy.
Meanwhile, a respiratory doctor at Belfast’s Mater Hospital has warned that oxygen supplies have now come under “extreme pressure” with younger patients requiring ventilation, forcing hospitals to consult with each other over supplies.
“That was never a thing in previous January flu problems, that is something we are now having to think of,” Dr Nick Magee told the BBC
Earlier this week Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael Mcbride said there was enough oxygen to cope with the current demand.
It comes as the number of Covid hospital patients rose from 599 last week to 850 yesterday, and from 44 to 58 in intensive care, 44 of whom require ventilation.
“It is all well controlled and we are making sure that we can share out that oxygen burden,” said Dr Magee.
“I can’t say specifically about other regional hospitals but I know that they are under extreme pressure.”
Staff are “particularly concerned” about the coming week, he added.
“Normally, if we had somebody who needed a lot of respiratory support we would involve a high dependency unit, but all the respiratory wards are becoming like high dependency units.”
Mrs Foster said the number of hospital admissions was due to peak later this week or early next week, with intensive care unit admissions set to rise for another week or so.
“We are all now partners in protecting people and preventing a greater loss of life,” she added.
To date, 102,701 people have been vaccinated against the virus and almost three-quarters of care homes have had second doses. In the community, 21,000 in the over-80 age category have been vaccinated by GPS.
It’s now expected that by the end of the month all care home residents, health and social care staff and over-80s will have received their first dose.
Mrs Foster said the rate of vaccination “makes us one of the top-performing countries across the globe”.
But she said that she does not have a “crystal ball” when it comes to predicting whether restrictions will ease next month, adding that the Executive will be guided by the medical and scientific advice.
Mrs O’neill commended the teams behind the local vaccination programme, some of whom are now working seven days a week.
She said it was “remarkable” 97% of care home residents had received a first dose and 72% had received their second dose.
Meanwhile, a further 28 deaths and 3,955 positive tests were reported in the Republic yesterday.
And Public Health England said a further 48,682 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK had been reported, but said the publication of the latest data on Covid-related deaths had been delayed due to a “processing issue”.