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Cavan’s pharmacist Cian Murtagh says the Covid-19 figures in the county are now “off scale.”
“If you think about it, 80 cases a day in Cavan would be the equivalent of 1,200 in Dublin, with a population 15 times greater there. We have a difficult road ahead ”.
Cavan’s man listened in awe to the latest figures from Northern Ireland on Wednesday when the count of 1,217 cases was announced.
“There are a lot of people from the North working in Cavan, including my own staff,” he said.
As speculation mounts about whether border counties will move to level 4, Murtagh, like many people in the county, was talking about the GAA and not proximity to the border on Wednesday.
“A lot of people are upset with the GAA in Cavan,” he said. “They blame the spike on the celebrations after the recent GAA finals.”
Being an avid GAA supporter himself, he says he understands the passion but acknowledges that the championships, especially the club finals, are bad news amid the Covid-19 crisis.
“There is no problem with the quarter-finals or semifinals, but when there is a glass on the table, there will be celebrations and that is a problem,” he said.
Jimmy Fox, who runs a shoe store in the town of Cavan, says it was irresponsible for 32 club finals to be played across the country just as colleges were reopening.
“I think it was a huge contributor to the increase,” he said.
It was a point raised repeatedly on the streets of the city of Cavan on Wednesday.
Many pointed to the recent senior championship final won by the Crosserlough club for the first time in 48 years.
Fox says another lockdown is inevitable because “half measures don’t work.” He believes there is “resignation” in the city, although he says he has seen older customers age in front of his eyes since the Covid-19 crisis began.
“It has been absolutely terrible for the elderly. They have lost confidence and a sense of well-being. They have aged and are afraid ”.
Medical experts
While acknowledging that the government is in “an impossible situation,” he believes that as soon as they deviated from the advice of medical experts, the numbers increased dramatically.
“Tony Holohan said Level 5 and we didn’t and we are paying a price. We know what the answer is. I do not want to close my doors but the only answer is the confinement ”.
Pacelli Lynch of Easons in Cavan says he does not believe the existing Level 3 restrictions are being applied correctly.
“Some people who come here just don’t wear a mask and if we say something, they say ‘doctor’, which means absolutely nothing.”
He also highlighted recent celebrations by GAA supporters as a major factor contributing to the local surge.
“I think the GAA did a fantastic job, especially during the shutdown, but I think the celebrations after the county finals didn’t help.”
You are concerned about what Level 4 will mean for local businesses.
“I have to say that our August, September and October numbers so far have been fantastic, well above last year, and I think that’s partly because people are shopping early for Christmas, but also because our customers are doing all possible local shops. “
Eddie Coleman, former president of the Cavan Chamber of Commerce and owner of Cavan Gifts, says “none of us want to see another closure” but “would rather it happen now than in December,” which was a pivotal time for businesses.
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