[ad_1]
A group of golfers who traveled to Tullamore in Co Offaly and found that 20 members had Covid-19 said they all met public health guidelines during the trip.
In a statement Friday, the Entertainers Golf Society said members discovered they were carriers of the virus after one of their colleagues died at the hotel from an unrelated illness, but was found to also have coronavirus. Subsequently, all were examined for the disease.
The group, believed to be from Dublin, have traveled to Tullamore to play golf every year for the past 16 years.
An HSE circular to doctors in the Midlands described their movements between 6 and 10 September in the event of new infections. They had visited local pubs, a restaurant, and two golf courses.
In a statement issued to RTÉ’s Liveline, the society said that the members had traveled separately, had maintained social distancing and had followed all the guidelines established by the places they visited.
“Unfortunately and tragically, one of our dear friends died suddenly and unexpectedly at the hotel,” he said.
“A subsequent medical examination discovered that our dear friend had Covid, but this was not related to her death. When we were informed, we all immediately isolated ourselves and gave the HSE complete information about the places we had visited. ”
The incident led to the temporary closure of the Bridge House Hotel in Tullamore, where the golfers had been staying, and the testing and screening of up to 100 staff members.
Hand hygiene
Attention has focused on the potential for contagion in the locality.
“It’s too early to tell,” said local GP Michael Haverty, adding that a significant number of tests have routinely returned negative results in recent months.
“It’s not very high down here. It was high in Offaly [in August] due to a couple of meat plants, but that was limited. ”
Dr. Haverty said there was no noticeable increase in calls to GPs for surgeries on Friday after news of the golf trip emerged, outside of already high volumes. There are about five practices in the locality, with between 10 and 15 GPs.
“We will get out of the way this weekend and we will know a lot. It could have minimal impact. It will probably be a good test of how well all these places are doing hand hygiene. “
A local business owner visited by some of the group’s members said he was informed last week that two out of eight of them had tested positive for the virus.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said the situation had been stressful and had left him wanting more information from health officials. Later he tested himself and it came back negative.
“Sure it does [frustrate us]. Offaly was blocked very quickly when we had some cases and nobody wants to block anything, ”he said. “None of us want to close deals. It has been six difficult months in this country for everyone and it is going to be another six difficult months. ”
Local TD Fianna Fail, Barry Cowen, said he had spoken to the HSE and was confident that authorities had the situation under control.
“It’s not easy. It’s a setback and a concern,” he said. “It’s not like you can never say that you won’t have breakouts here and there. I would rather people were more aware of their responsibilities and not take these risks.”
[ad_2]