Coronavirus in Ireland: Successful closure of Dublin could ease the spread of the big cities of Kildare and Wicklow

A successful Dublin shutdown could help ease the numbers for the big cities of Kildare and Wicklow that are currently being hit by high levels of Covid-19, one expert said.

As Dubliners got used to the first day of the Level Three lockdown, new figures show that cases are on the rise in Bray and Celbridge, and are almost as high as the worst-hit parts of the capital.

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It comes as Taoiseach Micheal Martin warned that Ireland will live with Covid-19 and its full impact “throughout 2021.”

The Blanchardstown and Mulhuddart areas in Dublin West currently have the highest incidence rate of 14 days per 100,000 people in the country at 189.8.

This is followed by the Tallaght Central area in the capital with 175.9 cases per 100,000 in the last 14 days.

However, the next highest rate in Ireland is at Kildare’s Celbridge with a 14-day rate of 171.1.

The town of Bray in Co Wicklow also has a worryingly high Covid rate with 105.1 in the east of the area and 86.9 in the west.

SPREADING OUT

These high rates of COVID have sparked fears that Dublin’s booming COVID outbreak could spread to neighboring counties and bring more areas of Ireland to a Level Three lockdown.

Acting Medical Director Dr. Ronan Glynn revealed that there is particular concern for a growing number of counties where the virus is on the rise again.

He said: “Some other counties are seeing worrying trends and turning red. Particularly Louth with 118 cases in the last 14 days, Limerick with 110 cases, Waterford with 94 cases.

“A large outbreak is also being treated in Offaly and the number of cases remains high in Kildare.”

GROWING HOSPITALIZATIONS

Ireland’s top doctor has warned that the number of people hospitalized with the infection is increasing and urged people to reduce the number of people they come in contact with this week.

Professor Tom Cotter of University College Cork told the Irish Sun that the new government restrictions in Dublin will help other counties reduce their outbreaks and avoid closure.

The biochemist said: “Dublin is in trouble. Sanitary measures had to be introduced and I think restaurants had to be closed.

“If you look at the United States, studies show that most of the spread occurred in restaurants and homes. Pubs were supposed to be closed in Dublin and in fact I think pubs in the rest of Ireland should be closed as well.

“Cellbridge surprised me a bit, but if you think it’s a commuter city so close to Dublin. Many of the cities that commute to Dublin will work in Dublin and will be there all the time.

BLURRY BORDERS

That’s a blurry border between Kildare and Dublin, just as there are blurry borders between Dublin and Wicklow and Dublin and Louth.

“The spread in those counties will depend on the effectiveness of the measures in Dublin. If people actually fold, they will see the numbers go back.

“A quarter of the population of Ireland lives in Dublin. It is a high-density population. If the new measures work, I think the rest of the country could escape, but it all depends on what happens when the pubs open. “

Gardai held checkpoints across the Dublin borders today, including on the road to Bray, Co Wicklow, where they returned Dubliners home.

GARDA CONTROL POINTS

Taoiseach Micheal Martin today pleaded with Dubliners to abide by the new restrictions and “stick with us because we will get through this.”

He told RTE: “This virus does not adhere to carefully established calibrated plans. It will bounce. Return. It is mortal. It is dangerous. Kill people.

“It also disables people for quite a long time. We have heard stories of people who have had Covid and it has taken a long time to recover.

“Medical research is being published saying that it can damage the lungs, so there is still a lot to learn about this virus, but we know this, it is a deadly virus and we have to protect each other and protect our elderly and the most vulnerable. of the society. .

“We can do it. We did it before. These severe restrictions that are coming, we did in Kildare, Offaly and Laois and they stabilized the numbers.

STABILIZE NUMBERS

“I think it’s important to tell people that. Here is hope. We can control this and we can make it work. “

The Taoiseach added that reports that the National Public Health Emergencies Team (NPHET) wanted to place Dublin at Level 4 “were certainly not communicated to us.”

“Our goal is to get back to Tier 2 in Dublin and we really need to focus on adhering to the guidelines and rules. That’s the best way to avoid level 4. “

When asked about a vaccine in 2021, the Taoiseach warned that Ireland will live with the virus for at least one more year.

He said: “I think we could get a vaccine. It may be in the middle of the year, but if you take everything that will go into making that vaccine globally, I think the full impact of the virus will be with us throughout the year.

YEAR IMPACT

Restaurants across the county were devastated by the new restrictions as they were forced to close the indoor dining room and store thousands of euros in food that will be sold this weekend.

Sustainable Seafood Ireland, which generally supplies fish to restaurants in Dublin, held a sale in Herbert Park to test a stock worth € 30,000 that was due to be shipped to restaurants this weekend.

This is a problem that has affected hundreds of pubs and restaurants this weekend after they were forced to stop serving customers indoors, a restriction that led many restaurants to close their stores for three weeks.

Taoiseach Martin said that he understood that the hospitality sector had taken a “terrible blow” due to the restrictions and promised to do more to help and support these companies in the next budget.

SUPPORT FOR THE ARTS

He claimed that Ireland’s finances face a deficit of € 24 billion this year and will face a similar hit in 2021 as the world continues to fight the pandemic.

The Taoiseach revealed that pandemic unemployment pay and temporary wage subsidy schemes could be extended for certain industries for the entirety of 2021.

He also said that he asked Education Minister Norma Foley to consider hiring people from the arts sector to work on projects in schools to give them jobs and improve our schools.

The Taoiseach also accused opposition parties such as Sinn Fein and Labor of using the launch of the Living With Covid plan this week to play politics.

Labor leader Alan Kelly criticized the Dublin government’s handling in Tuesday’s launch, while Sinn Fein’s Mary Lou McDonald claimed the government was not focusing enough on testing and tracing.

He said: “They were more or less focused on Dublin on Tuesday and they were releasing the evidence.

“They pretended there was nothing in the plan about testing, while in reality there are very details.

“It became a fad. The word confusion is a great word to use once in a while if you are on the side of the opposition.

“I don’t think it was fair and I think it undermined the public health message.

“I think they were being political about it and I don’t think we can be political about Covid-19. I think it transcends politics.”

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