Call for Coronavirus contingency plans

A Dundalk Councillor has called on Louth County Council to have contingency plans in place in the event of a major outbreak of the Coronavirus.

Cllr. Sean Kelly raised concerns about local planning for potential disruption at the Dundalk Municipal Committee meeting last week.

He asked if, with a number of public events being planned in the coming weeks, not least the St. Patrick’s Day parade, the local authority had been in contact with the HSE for guidance.

Cllr. Kelly also asked if management at Louth County Council were making contingency plans if there was an outbreak among its workforce.

He pointed out that the local authority are among the largest workforces in the area.

Director of Services, Frank Pentony (pictured right)said a meeting of senior management had taken place, and he would come back to the council with an update.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr. Kelly told the Argus: ‘My concern is that the Council don’t have the capacity to allow people to work from home if there is an outbreak and the Council will ground to a halt espe-especially essential services.’ The Local Authority have confirmed to the Argus that a plan is being ‘ developed’.

However it is not clear if this will be made public.

Concerns about a wider outbreak of the Coronavirus are growing as the number of cases on the island reached 33 yesterday (Monday).

There were 21 cases to date in the south, with a further 12 confirmed in Northern Ireland.

The new cases in the Republic involve a male in a hospital in the south of the country and a female in the east of the country, who has an underlying illness and is seriously ill.

Both cases were community transmissions and not cases involving people who returned recently from at-risk areas.