Case to ease Sligo Covid restrictions
The prospect of the easing Covid-19 restrictions more quickly by regions has been raised by a leading expert.
Infectious disease specialist Professor Samuel McConkey was speaking on Morning Ireland on RTE Radio One on Monday and referenced a similar system in Italy where different rules have been implemented in different areas.
He cited places like Sligo, which hasn’t seen any new cases of Covid-19 for two weeks, saying: “Going from somewhere like Donegal to Leitrim to Sligo to Mayo at this point is probably relatively safe, because they all have very similar profiles and very good control of this virus.
“But, going from Dublin to Rosses Point at this point it is not such a good idea as it may be potentially reintroducing the virus back into Sligo, and then it could spread and grow there. So that idea of looking at our country as different regions is one way we could gradually get out of this.”
County Sligo has gone fifteen days without a recorded case of the coronaviruswith a total to date of just 129 cases.
McConkey also addressed concerns about large gatherings at beaches and other beauty spots, saying: “I’m much more worried about house parties. Being outdoors in the open air, even if you have 500 people at a beach, is relatively safe. The sun kills the virus and the wind blows it away. So the outdoors I feel less concerned about.”
A government decision on if and how Ireland will enter phase 2 of the roadmap to recovery is expected on coming Friday. Phase 2 is due to begin on Monday, June 8 which will see the travel restriction increase from 2k to 20k.
Meanwhile, Sligo native Dr Michael Ryan, Executive Director of the World Health Organization’s ( WHO) Health Emergencies Programme told a WHO media briefing that the virus could become more prevalent again if complacency sets in.
Speaking in Geneva, Dr Ryan praised the efforts of countries all around the world, but stressed the need for continued effort, and not complacency, when it comes to suppressing the virus.
“Right now, we’re not in a second wave, we’re right in the middle of a first wave,” Dr Ryan said. “And, if we look at the data, as was spoken about, from south America, Africa, Asia, and many other countries, we’re still very much in a phase where the disease is actually on the way up. We congratulate countries like Spain, who’ve managed to contain and suppress the disease transmission. But, as we have seen in the studies, the actual number of people who have been infected in this country remains relatively low so when we speak about a second wave, classically, what we often mean is that there will be a first wave, the disease by itself effectively goes to a very low level and then occurs a number of months later.
“Where we’re concerned about, and that may be a reality for many countries in a number of months time, but we need to be also cognisant of the fact that the disease can jump up at any time.”
Dr Ryan says that continued effort is required to combat a potential second peak during this ‘first’ wave, and to ensure there is no second wave of the virus.