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Border counties could move to Level 4 restrictions if North Korea goes ahead with introducing a blockade as advocated by the medical director there this morning, Dr. Michael McBride.
Dr McBride advocates a six-week lockdown to halt the sharp rise in the infection rate in Northern Ireland, according to reports this morning.
There is growing alarm in the government about the increase in cases in the north, where there were 1,066 new cases on Sunday and 902 on Saturday.
The Derry and Strabane region now has the highest rate of new infections in the UK, and public health experts here are concerned about importing new cases across the border.
Sources said there have been discussions in Dublin about a quick move to Level 4 for border counties in an attempt to limit cross-border infections.
It is understood that the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) has contacted the Government regarding the possibility, and it is likely that the three leaders of the coalition parties, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Los Verdes , discuss the topic later today.
There is particular concern about the current infection numbers in Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan.
Donegal remains the worst affected county, with an incidence of 344.9 cases per 100,000 residents during the past 14 days. However, Cavan, where the incidence increased by 12 percent in one day, to 338.7, looks set to overtake Donegal in the next few days.
Monaghan has the next highest incidence, at 319.3. In Dublin, the incidence increased only slightly to 174.6, less than in seven other counties.
Earlier, a senior DUP MP questioned the need for a region-wide lockdown in Northern Ireland.
DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson said he would like to know “why we are abandoning the policy of focusing on the areas where infection rates are highest.” File Photography: James Forde
Jeffrey Donaldson’s comments came amid reports that Dr. McBride advocates a six-week lockdown to stop spiraling infection rates.
Donaldson said that such a proposal was much broader than what was in place or being considered in other parts of the UK or Ireland.
“A full six-week lockdown, back to where we were last March, I think would take us way ahead of anywhere else,” he told BBC Radio Ulster’s Nolan Show.
“And the rate in Northern Ireland, you would need to be convinced that such measures at this time are appropriate for all of Northern Ireland.
“I would like to know why we are abandoning the policy of focusing on the areas where infection rates are highest.”
Donaldson said Dr. McBride needed to produce the data that warranted imposing a six-week lockdown.
“What we are asking the medical director, why do we need a total lockdown in those areas where the infection rate is much lower to combat the spread of infection in places like Derry and Strabane?” he said.
“I think it’s a fair question.”
The Westminster leader of the DUP also challenged Health Minister Robin Swann on why Covid-19 contingency measures, such as the reopening of a Nightingale hospital in Belfast City Hospital, had not been implemented, if the situation facing the local health service was so dire.
In the Republic, the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care has increased by half in the space of a week.
This morning there were 30 patients with viruses in the ICU, according to the government data center, one less than yesterday but 10 more than a week ago.
Hospitalizations jumped 80 percent over the past week, to 221 this morning from 120 a week ago.
The Health Service Executive says it had 38 intensive care beds and 420 general beds available on Sunday.
Covid-19 cases continue to increase in all but four counties in the Republic, according to the latest figures.
Incidence of the disease dropped in Louth, Mayo, Roscommon and Tipperary on Sunday, compared to the day before, according to an update from the Center for Health Protection Surveillance.
Carlow, with a 14-day incidence of 59.7, has the lowest figures in the Republic.
Overall, 7,548 people tested positive during the fortnight through Sunday, yielding a national incidence of 158.5.
There were 223 Covid-19-related hospitalizations, 14 ICU admissions, and nine deaths during the period.
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