REVEALED: New wave of Covid-19 outbreaks in Limerick at parties and family groups

An increase in outbreaks of social gatherings, house parties and family groups has led to an increase in Covid-19 cases in Limerick, as the region experiences its largest wave of new cases since April.

This comes after Ireland’s Acting Medical Director Dr. Ronan Glynn gave a stern warning to the people of Limerick, noting that the county could face further restrictions if coronavirus numbers continue to rise. 19 new cases were reported in Limerick last night.

Yesterday, the Cabinet agreed that pubs that do not serve food will reopen on September 21. However, this will be subject to local restrictions.

According to exclusive figures received by the Limerick Leader, there were 66 new cases related to a total of 18 outbreaks in Limerick in the past two weeks, as of Friday afternoon.

There were five outbreaks in the community from social gatherings and parties, eight outbreaks in family groups, four outbreaks in the workplace, and one outbreak related to the workplace.

“Within these outbreaks, secondary transmission was evident from social gatherings in private family homes and workplaces,” an HSE spokesperson told the leader.

The leader requested this information from the HSE after Professor Philip Nolan, President of the National Public Health Emergency Team [Nphet] He said at a press conference that there were “a significant number of large outbreaks in that city.”

Last week saw more than 70 new cases of Covid-19 in Limerick, the highest weekly increase since the week of March 20. During the past two weeks, there have been 116 new cases, representing 7% of new cases nationwide.

According to HSE data, updated to August 12, the city center and suburbs have been the most negatively affected. Ballycummin and Mungret district has around 67 confirmed cases, while Ballysimon district has around 57 cases.

While all electoral districts have had a confirmed case, nearby towns and cities have been more negatively affected than more rural communities. The Annacotty and Lisnagry area has seen 21 confirmed cases so far, 15 in Newcastle West, 14 in Rathkeale and 13 in Clarina. Border districts in Clare such as Kileely (Meelick and surrounding areas) have had 57 cases, while Ballyglas (Ardnacrusha, Parteen, and surrounding areas) have seen 53 cases.

This week, Dr Glynn said that they are “particularly concerned about Dublin and Limerick. We’ve seen an increase in those two particular counties over the past few weeks.

“Really, I guess, it’s a message tonight to the people in those counties that, really, next week is vital, and people really need to cut back on their social contacts over the next week. We need to take every precaution over the next week in those counties. They must now assume, again unfortunately, that Covid is circulating in the community and act appropriately. If they don’t, we’ll see an increase in cases and we’ll go back to places we don’t want to be in the next few weeks. “

Meanwhile, the executive director of the Licensed Vintners Association, Donall O’Keeffe said it was “time” for the Cabinet to move to reopen pubs on September 21. He added that he feels that “there was little justification for the government to have repeatedly delayed the reopening.”

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