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The Government acted swiftly yesterday to raise Co Donegal to Level 3 on the Covid-19 scale after a dramatic and rapid deterioration of the situation with the virus in the county.
The move came after a substantial increase in cases in the county with the 14-day rate in the Lifford and Stranorlar area at 336 per 100,000 people. The number of cases per 100,000 over the past fortnight in the county rose to 148.2, the highest in the country. It is now higher than the Dublin rate of about 145.
A disembodied cabinet meeting was quickly organized last night after the National Public Health Emergency Team recommended that Donegal be placed on the same level with Dublin as of midnight Friday.
At a press conference to confirm the decision, Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Acting Medical Director Dr. Ronan Glynn said that Donegal now had twice the levels of infection than all other counties besides Dublin over the past seven days.
Starting at midnight on Friday, Donegal residents will be asked not to travel out of the county unless essential. There will be bans on eating indoors, more restrictions on the number of spectators at sporting events, and strict limits on the number of people who can gather indoors and outdoors. The number allowed at weddings and funerals will be reduced to 25. Restrictions will apply for three weeks until October 16. Unlike Dublin, wet pubs in Donegal will be open but only for outdoor drinks for up to 15 people.
However, Mr. Martin warned of similar measures in other counties and cities where the incidence rate was increasing. “To be honest, we could have similar announcements for other areas in the next week, if the numbers continue to rise,” he said.
Dr. Glynn specifically warned of possible escalations in other counties urging people in Louth, Wicklow, Kildare, Waterford, Cork and Galway to pay special attention to public health advice.
The Taoiseach said cities like Cork and Galway have started from a low base, but “incident rates are growing very fast.”
Border concerns
Mr. Martin and Dr. Glynn said that even though the rest of the country was at Level 2, the number of cases continued to increase, as did the rate of hospitalization and admission to the ICU.
“Unfortunately, the situation continues to evolve and deteriorate nationally,” said Dr. Glynn.
The latest daily figures showed 42 new cases in Donegal and 124 in Dublin out of 324 reported cases. Dr Glynn said public health physicians were seeing large numbers of cases in the Derry area and it was not surprising that cases were turning up in Donegal.
Public health expert Dr. Gabriel Scally said last night that it was “more than sensible but essential” to have “seamless” Covid-19 measures in Donegal and Derry to prevent travel between counties. He warned of the risk of people in Donegal crossing the border to drink inside.
The medical chiefs of the Republic and Northern Ireland will speak on Friday to devise a coordinated approach to reduce travel between Donegal and Derry.
In the meantime, the Government’s green list of countries to which people in Ireland can travel without having to restrict their movements upon return has been updated. As of Monday, only four countries: Cyprus, Finland, Latvia and Liechenstein will be on the list with Germany, Iceland, Lithuania and Poland eliminated.
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