HARRIS: DON’T SCREW IT UP
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IRELAND emerges from two months of lockdown misery today with health chiefs warning: Don’t screw it up.
As tens of thousands return to work, business leaders urged consumers to support local retailers after the hellish shutdown.
Yesterday figures showed another 10 deaths and 64 new cases – the lowest since St Patrick’s Day.
But Health Minister Simon Harris warned the battle is not over and added: “We have all come too far and sacrificed too much to screw it up.”
HEALTH chiefs yesterday warned the progress made to kill off Covid-19 can be reversed if we don’t stick to the rules.
As the nation’s sleeping economy slowly re-awakens today, HSE boss Paul Reid said the number of new cases could surge if people ignore the guidelines.
He added we have a “duty of care” to others, particularly healthcare workers.
And Health Minister Simon Harris took to social media to urge everyone to stay the course – and said we’d sacrificed too much to “screw it up”.
At the HSE briefing in Dublin yesterday, Mr Reid thanked everyone for their hard work over the past nine weeks but asked the public to continue the fight.
He said: “We’re facing into a very important week ahead as the Government commences the first key moment of reduced restrictions all across the country.
“This has been a very difficult time for everybody, a lot of sacrifices have been made. We have achieved quite a lot working together.
But I would urge everybody, we can’t undo what we have achieved together over the last few weeks.
“This is a virus that is still with us and it is a deadly virus.
“We have a continued duty of care to protect our loved ones and protect our healthcare workers, particularly as we head into next week.”
The HSE said the percentage of people testing positive for coronavirus has declined and the number of people with Covid-19 currently in ICUS across the country has dropped dramatically since last month. There
are now 54 people with the virus in ICUS, a decrease of 67% since the peak in early April of 160.
Because of this, the HSE will now focus on returning to normal services as much as possible. For those missing friends and family, the new rules from today mean up to four people who do not live together can meet outdoors while keeping at least two metres apart.
This rule applies to people of “all ages”, the HSE’S chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry insisted yesterday. And while many are missing loved ones, he insisted people should not gather in larger groups.
Dr Henry said: “The measures to date have been tough on people of all ages, and in particular older people who are cocooning and younger people and children who are missing their friends. But the gains we’ve made since March 22 when those restrictions were brought in have been considerable.”
Mr Reid also said our sacrifices would mean nothing if we flout the roadmap and ignore guidelines.
He added: “One thing is for sure – what people have done has worked.
“The big challenge for us in the next few weeks is to encourage everybody to keep doing it.”
Mr Harris also appealed to the public yesterday, urging everyone to protect each other.
He wrote on Twitter: “We have all come too far and sacrificed too much to screw it up. So proceed with caution and care.
“We are so interdependent – I am depending on you by your actions to keep me safe and well and vice versa.
“So keep our distance, wash hands, don’t all rush to whatever is open and let’s do this.”