EIGHT OUT WITH COVID AT GOREY GARDA STATION
GOREY Garda Station remains operational despite eight members of the force testing positive for Covid-19 and more of their colleagues self-isolating after being confirmed as close contacts.
Sergeant Stephen Ennis confirmed the outbreak saying that the virus had spread between both garda and sergeant ranks.
‘It all happened over night and can be traced back to the days between December 28 to New Year’s Day. The members concerned are at home recuperating and we are following the guidelines of the HSE in relation to the management of it. They should return to work in the coming days.
‘We can’t blame anyone. Having spoken to our colleagues who have the virus, some were quite ill with it but, thankfully, none are in hospital. With all the precautions we took, it still got into the station and took hold, which is a warning to all of us to follow the guidelines and this new lockdown without exception’.
GOREY GARDA STATION remains operational despite eight members of the force testing positive for Covid-19 and more of their colleagues self-isolating after being confirmed as close contacts.
Sergeant Stephen Ennis confirmed the outbreak but said that the station itself was operational throughout, despite the sudden challenge.
‘It all happened over night and can be traced back to the days between December 28 to New Year’s Day. The members concerned are at home recuperating and we are following the guidelines of the HSE in relation to the management of it. They should return to work in the coming days’.
Although not directly impacted himself, Sgt Ennis confirmed that the virus spread between both the garda and sergeant ranks.
‘We can’t blame anyone. Having spoken to our colleagues who have the virus, some were quite ill with it but, thankfully, none are in hospital. With all the precautions we took, it still got into the station and took hold, which is a warning to all of us to follow the guidelines and this new lockdown without exception.
‘ The second those infected felt the symptoms, they took the advice and relayed the information back to us and isolated immediately. Now, we are doing our best to chase it up as much as we can but, with the nature of the job, a certain amount if contact is unavoidable. We can see that the garda ranks had minimal contact between themselves, but when it gets into a place, that just seems to be it.
‘We are aware that there are plans to vaccinate us gardai and we have had no further confirmed cases since the outbreak.
We are confident that anyone who was in contact who those eight members has isolated correctly’.
He said that gardai in Gorey are continuing to provide a service, and that in consultation with Garda Headquarters, they will be deploying extra resources as necessary to assure continuation of service.
When the outbreak was confirmed, the station closed for a short period to decontaminate and some specialised cleaners engaged in a deep clean and since the station has been completely operational.
WITH ALL THE PRECAUTIONS WE TOOK, IT STILL GOT INTO THE STATION AND TOOK HOLD WHICH IS A WARNING TO ALL OF US