Council braced for arrival of coronavirus
WHILE it was confirmed that Wexford has had no confirmed cases of coronavirus thus far, Wexford County Council is preparing for the arrival of the highly contagious virus, stating that ‘it’s highly likely that it will emerge within the coming days’.
The local authority also announced that it’s preparing for scenarios including high absence rates and complete shut-down as a result of the spread of coronavirus.
At yesterday’s (Monday) Wexford County Council meeting, news filtered through the council chamber that, following high level meetings in Dublin, all St Patrick’s Day Parades across the country were to be cancelled. Regardless, however, Cllr Ger Carthy called on the council to show leadership and cancel the Wexford parades regardless of the outcome of the Dublin meeting.
‘Healthcare workers are working around the clock to contain this thing,’ he said. ‘We need to do our little bit. I’m asking for us to cancel the parades ourselves here and now.’
Acting Director of Services Caroline Godkin stated that the situation regarding the spread of Covid-19 was constantly evolving, but that Wexford County Council was braced for its arrival in the model county. She noted that a special emergency task group had been formed and meets every two to three days to review the situation.
Ms Godkin stated that Wexford County Council is preparing for two scenarios - the first being a high level of staff absence from council departments, the next being a complete shut-down.
‘The health and safety of staff is highly important,’ Ms Godkin said. ‘We don’t have a case in Wexford yet, but it’s highly likely that one will emerge in the coming days. We’re currently looking at travel and it’s highly likely that we will have to postpone any events of this type going forward.’
Cllr Jim Codd felt that the council weren’t taking the threat posed by the virus seriously enough and expressed his surprise that a special meeting had not been called.
‘We need to show leadership here,’ he said. ‘The first thing that should be done is to cancel all trips abroad. We’ve sat on our hands long enough. The ordinary flu has had people sleeping underneath beds in the hospital. Should we be looking at commandeering gymnasiums to deal with this?’
Cllr Jackser Owens stated that the reaction appeared to be slow in comparison to the Foot and Mouth epidemic years back.
‘This is killing people,’ he stressed. ‘There are still thousands of people coming in from Italy. We’re too slow to act. People are very worried out there.’
Speaking both as a councillor and an advanced paramedic with the HSE, Cllr Ger Carthy said: ‘We don’t have enough intensive care beds in Wexford General Hospital. Paramedics are out there swabbing for this virus, but by the middle of next week, they won’t be able to do that because there’ll be so many people presenting. The health service is under pressure. Let’s be prepared. This is a very serious thing and it will effect people in this county.’
Ms Godkin stressed that they council did not want to generate panic and that 80% of people infected with the virus would make a full recovery. However, she did add that the council are taking it extremely seriously and will be doing everything possible to prevent the spread of covid-19.
‘We’ve been through other emergencies and at no point has the response of the council been anything other than top class,’ said Cllr John Hegarty. ‘It’s important that the message is that we are taking this seriously and will take the required action.’