Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
No Xmas lockdown
..but more measures to stop Covid spread may be needed says top doc
and
CHIEF medical officer Sir Michael Mcbride has said he does not think we are looking at the prospect of another coronavirus lockdown.
However, he warned that Northern Ireland was facing a very serious situation and some further restrictions may be required if efforts to suppress the current Covid-19 wave fail.
Insisting the vaccination programme meant lockdown was less likely, he told BBC Radio Ulster: “I don’t think we’ll go back to the situation that we had before, back in March last year.
“I do not think we will go back to the damaging impact of lockdowns.
“However, we may need to consider our wider restrictions in certain environments and sectors where we know the risks are higher.
“If we don’t act now and if we don’t act decisively, unfortunately we may well be back advising the Executive that further interventions are needed to prevent our health service being overwhelmed.”
Sir Michael said the easing of restrictions in the hospitality sector at the end of October had led to a “very significant uptick in cases”.
The region’s chief scientific adviser Prof Ian Young added there is a “menu of measures” that are known to be effective that can be recommended to the Executive in mid-december if the situation deteriorates.
He indicated those would include restrictions or closures in some sectors but that closing retail would be unlikely.
Prof Young told The Nolan Show: “In about three to four weeks’ time if we don’t take any action then it looks as if the hospitals would be at risk of being overwhelmed.
“We’re still not at the levels of Covid that we saw last winter.
“The hospitals have contingency plans in place and those plans are being activated but if the Covid numbers rise more significantly then even those plans may not be sufficient.” Asked about
the Department of Health proposal to strengthen working from home guidance, Sir Michael said evidence indicated that was potentially “one of the single most effective interventions”.
He said people did not need to cancel their scheduled Christmas parties at this stage but advised them to take precautions to minimise risk, such as taking a lateral flow test prior to attending.
A further seven deaths of patients who had previously tested positive for Covid-19 and another 1,690 cases of the virus were notified in Northern Ireland yesterday.
There were 410 positive patients in hospital, with 33 in intensive care.