Serious concern at skyrocketing cases of Covid in the North
:: Taoiseach tells Boris Johnson North needs more resources
THE skyrocketing number of new Covid-19 cases in Northern Ireland is causing serious concern within the Government here.
There are fears the high number of cases in the North might result in “spill-over” into the Republic, where Level 3 restrictions were introduced this week to fight the spread of the coronavirus.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke yesterday about the escalating situation in the North, as more than 900 new cases were recorded on the other side of the Border.
The two leaders agreed a second lockdown in the North would have devastating economic consequences, but Mr
Martin urged Mr Johnson to provide more resources for the Northern Ireland Executive to deal with the pandemic.
After the phone call, Mr Martin said he had made a “very strong point” to the prime minister that the situation in the North is “very, very worrying” and that they needed support.
Mr Martin said: “The Northern Ireland Executive needed support and that if he could give consideration particularly in terms of financial support to underpin any efforts or any restrictions that they might decide themselves to bring in.”
Chief medical officer Tony Holohan is due to discuss the situation with his Northern Ireland counterpart, Michael McBride, today.
A senior Government said they are “really worried about the North and spill-over”.
It comes as the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) insisted it still has “deep concerns” about the spread of the virus in Ireland and said the situation had “deteriorated” since the group recommended a national lockdown on Sunday .
However, the group led by Dr Holohan did not recommend any further Covid restrictions – despite only five days ago advising the strictest regulations be introduced for the entire country.
The Cabinet Committee on Covid-19 will meet today to discuss the latest letter to Government from Mr Holohan and Nphet.
But it is not expected any new restrictions will be introduce before the weekend.
In the letter to Government, Nphet outlined the number of deaths from the virus nationally and the new outbreaks in nursing homes.
It also highlighted that there had been 397 cases of the virus among healthcare workers in the past two weeks.
However, there were positive signs in figures released yesterday with the number of new cases in Dublin down to 91.
Government sources said they were buoyed by the figures from the capital, which suggested the Level 3 restrictions may have begun working.
In total, 506 new cases of were recorded nationwide along with one death. This included 76 new cases in Cork, 53 in Donegal, 42 in Meath and the remaining 244 cases
located across 21 counties.
Notably Dr Holohan did not include a comment with the daily Department of Health press release outlining the new figures.
In recent days, he has highlighted his concerns with the increasing rise in cases across the country. In Northern Ireland 923 new cases and one death were recorded.
Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster and Sinn Féin leader in the North Michelle O’Neill are pleading with Westminster for more financial resources to tackle the virus.
First Minister Ms Foster described the situation in Northern Ireland as “grave” and said hundreds of people would require hospital treatment before the end of the month if the virus’ growth was not stopped.
Ms Foster said that if more severe restrictions were introduce, more funding would be needed.
“We have put forward a small package to try and support people up in the north-west but we recognise that it is only a small package,” she said.
“It is all we can do with the limited financial powers that we have, so it is important that if we are to move to more restrictive measures in terms of the economy, which we certainly don’t want to... we would need the support of the prime minister and of Westminster.”
Secretary of State Brandon Lewis wrote: “You absolutely have the UK Government’s support – and you have done throughout this pandemic.
“To date, we have committed £2.2bn in Covid specific funding to support the NI Executive – providing the certainty and financial flexibility you need to respond to coronavirus.”