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Ireland’s health minister has said he and the acting medical director are “cautiously optimistic” that the tighter restrictions in Dublin are working.
Stephen Donnelly said that the vast majority of people in Dublin are following the public health restrictions put in place to slow the spread of Covid-19.
Dublin and Donegal are currently subject to Level 3 restrictions under the government’s five-tier Covid-19 response plan, with the rest of the country at Level 2.
The strictest measures in place in the capital include a ban on indoor social gatherings; a requirement for pubs and restaurants to only serve cookouts, while travel in and out of the county has been limited to work, education, and essential purposes.
Donnelly said that public health experts tracking the spread of Covid-19 in Ireland need the virus’s seven-day rate to be less than half the 14-day rate.
(Image: Niall Carson / PA Wire)
Dublin’s 14-day incidence rate is 147 positive cases per 100,000 inhabitants, while its seven-day rate is 78.
“What we want to start to see is that the seven-day rate becomes less than half the 14-day rate and that shows that it is stagnating,” Donnelly told RTE.
“The Medical Director (Dr. Ronan Glynn) and I have been talking exactly on this point over the weekend, we will be cautiously optimistic as we always should be, but it is very soon.
“We want to see that seven-day rate go down every day.
(Image: Julien Behal)
“I have no doubt that the people of Dublin have heard this loud and clear, and in the vast majority of cases people are doing what they are supposed to do, limiting their interactions.”
He urged the public to halve the number of social contacts they have in a bid to reduce the R number, which is the number of people to whom an infected person will transmit the virus.
Donnelly said there are no plans for the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) to convene an emergency meeting this week, however, he warned that could change.
“There are four counties that are being looked at very carefully and they are Cork, Galway, Louth and Wicklow,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dr. Glynn urged households to reduce their contacts.
He said, “As we begin this new week, I ask every household in the country to sit together tonight and make a plan to reduce the number of people they meet this week.
“We have absolutely no room for complacency. If every person, family, workplace, and organization doesn’t do their part, the situation will continue to deteriorate.
“For people living in Donegal and Dublin, remember that the government’s advice is to work from home unless it is essential to attend in person.
“For people who live in these and all other counties, assume that Covid-19 is circulating in your community and act accordingly.”
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