Taoiseach: We’ve acted responsibly on various virus waves
THE Taoiseach has defended the Government’s response to the pandemic after figures revealed Ireland has the highest Covid-19 infection rate in the world.
Ireland has had 10,100 confirmed cases of the coronavirus per million people in the past week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University in the US.
It now ranks ahead of the Czech Republic, Slovenia and the United Kingdom in terms of weekly cases.
The surge has been blamed on the lifting of restrictions over the Christmas period, and the arrival of the highly transmissible UK variant of the virus.
It has put enormous pressure on the health service,
‘We accept our responsibility’
with a warning from HSE boss Paul Reid that the situation is ‘now beyond strain’.
Speaking yesterday, Micheál Martin rejected the idea that he should be ‘ashamed’ of his Government’s performance.
‘I’m not, and I think that’s an unfair representation and assertion,’ he told Newstalk’s Pat Kenny Show.
The Taoiseach said he believes the Government has ‘always responded effectively to the latest wave and to the latest surge of this particular virus’. He added: ‘Of course we accept our responsibilities. But we have acted at all times, I think, effectively in responding to the various waves that have emerged.
‘We’re doing that very resolutely and very firmly and very clearly, with our public health colleagues, and with all of those on the frontline.
‘It’s very challenging and it’s very serious and our focus really is on getting this current wave under control, getting the numbers down and getting transmission of the virus down, relieving pressures on our hospitals and protecting the vulnerable and the elderly.’
Mr Martin continued: ‘Over time, people can reflect on this and can make their observations and conclusions. But my focus now is working with my government colleagues to deal with it.’
Mr Martin told the programme that the UK variant of the virus was present in 45% of the most recent 92 samples that underwent additional testing.
Two weeks earlier, the variant was found in 25% of cases, and in just 9% of cases a fortnight previous to that.