St Mary’s College denies closure
CONCERN mounted in Arklow on Friday morning after rumours started to circulate that two individuals in the town had been diagnosed with Covid-19 on Thursday night.
While the HSE refused to confirm that two of the seven cases diagnosed over the previous 24 hours were from Wicklow, social media and local reports alleged that there was at least one incidence of the virus in the area.
With concerns mounting, misinformation began to spread online. By mid-morning, false rumours were circulating that St Mary’s College in the town had been closed and students had been sent home.
In a statement, school management said ‘following conversations with the HSE we have been advised that any risk to students in the school is classified as Low Risk. Contrary to reports on other platforms, St Mary’s College remains open for students as normal.’
The statement added that the Board of Management would issue further information immediately if the situation changed.
Meanwhile, worried shoppers visited local supermarkets to stock up on essentials such as pasta, beans, tinned tomatoes and toilet rolls. This paper visited a number of supermarkets in the Arklow area on Friday afternoon and in most stores, the shelves for pasta were empty as shoppers filled their trolleys out of concern that they may need to self-isolate.
Anyone worried they may have the symptoms of this novel coronavirus has been asked to call their GP.