Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Tests on suspected cases in Republic
THE Irish Government is set to take tough decisions on how to save Christmas amid fears the new Omicron variant has hit the Republic.
Cabinet will today consider advising parents to scale back the number of activities their children take part in and, for example, choose between playdates or attending a Christmas panto.
Ministers will also today decide whether all passengers arriving into the country should need a pre-arrival negative test.
It’s likely the government will adopt advice which would also see older primary school pupils having to wear masks in classrooms. Following a discussion between the three Iirsh government coalition leaders and NPHET members last night, a senior source said the meeting heard that infection rates in children aged between five and 11 and their parents is high.
They said: “The rationale for NPHET’S recent advice was given around socialisation.”
Concerns are now growing over the emerging Omicron variant as Delta cases continue to soar.
A government source said there was “general agreement at last night’s meeting that it would take another fortnight to have a clearer understanding of the presence and risk involved with the new variant”. Health
Minister Stephen Donnelly said last night: “It’s likely that we have cases of the [Omicron] variant in the country.
“We’ll have confirmation in the coming days but the working assumption at this point is that there are cases here.”
Another 4,607 cases of the disease were confirmed in the Republic yesterday with 579 people in hospital of whom 115 were in ICU.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said: “Our high incidence of disease from Covid-19 continues to have a significant impact on our health service. We are still seeing a concerning number of people who are in hospital and require critical care for Covid-19. This wave of infection is driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant. We know that the news of the Omicron variant is causing some concern.
“However, we also know how to break the chains of transmission of Covid-19 – these measures have worked against previous variants, they can successfully suppress transmission of the Delta variant and we are optimistic that they will work against the Omicron variant.
“If you are socialising, think about the risk associated with the activities you have planned.”
Meanwhile, Mr Donnelly told RTE he endorsed NPHET’S advice and it would be “sensible” for children to stay clear of pantos, Christmas plays and other indoor activities, although he believed visits to Santa Claus should be OK.
He added: “Masks for primary school children from third class up as a temporary measure and also what NPHET are saying is the majority of transmission for this group is happening outside of the school setting in indoor environments.”