Medics call for more drastic measures

MEDICS are warning a “complete lockdown” is needed to tackle the coronavirus pandemic as Government measures are “not stringent enough”.

The four chairs of the Belfast GP federations say they are “dismayed at the actions of many members of the public, who it seems to us, are failing to understand the gravity of the current situation”.

They warn: “Covid-19 is a disease, which is more infectious than seasonal influenza virus, is estimated to be carried asymptomatically or with mild symptoms in 60% of cases and has catastrophic effects in the short term for a large number of patients. The fact so many people can carry the virus with extremely limited effect to themselves means that whilst these individuals continue to move through the community, albeit in a limited fashion, they are still spreading the virus.

“Time is of the essence in this disease with doubling of cases on average every five days if no measures are taken.

“We acknowledge the current advice Government has given on social distancing

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but, in our view, this is not stringent enough. We accept the public find it difficult to understand the gravity of the condition at this stage as cases have few overt signs at the start and most cases with mild symptoms are managed by selfmanagement in the community or if severe, in hospital and thus are largely ‘out of sight’.

“We call on our political leaders to hear and act on our heartfelt plea and move to adopt a ‘complete lockdown’ as we have seen in other countries, at the earliest opportunity.”