Coronavirus: ‘Avoid all but necessary travel across the NI-Donegal border’

NI and the Republic of Ireland Chief Physicians have advised against all unnecessary travel across the NI-Donegal border.

Dr. Michael McBride and Dr. Ronan Glynn have also asked employers to try to make it easier for employees to work from home.

In a joint statement, they called on the public across the island to continue to follow the public health advice.

Prime Minister Arlene Foster has said that people who intend to travel for a weekend or to their county vacation homes before the restrictions go into effect should not make the trip.

“People should use their common sense,” he said.

“What we are trying to do at the moment is interrupt the transmission of the virus and the way to do that is to follow the regulations and follow the advice.

Garda checkpoints will be established throughout the county as part of an operation “focused on supporting public compliance” with sanitary measures.

Cross-border checkpoints in cooperation with the PSNI will also be set up at specific locations.

Republic of Ireland Acting Medical Director Dr Ronan Glynn and Northern Ireland Medical Director Dr Michael McBride said they realized their travel advice “would not be good news for those who they live in the border areas. “

Medical chiefs also noted specific concern about the significant proportion of cases in young people in both Donegal and Derry.

They called on adolescents and people in their 20s and 30s to reduce their social contacts.

Both Dr. McBride and Dr. Glynn said there would be “close collaboration” between the relevant authorities in the coming days “to address the worrying trend in the number of cases on both sides of the border, not just in Donegal and Derry. , but also in other areas along the border. “

Donegal now has the highest rate of Covid-19 in the Republic of Ireland.

“Between the start of the Covid crisis and September 10 in Lifford, we had 17 positive cases of Covid. Since then, until yesterday, we have had another 54,” he said.

Most of the new cases are people under the age of 35, he added.

The 273 new cases is the largest number of people who have tested positive in the current testing system.

The dashboard also shows that 46 people are in hospital with Covid-19, with five patients in intensive care units.

The seven-day incidence of illness in the council area has risen to 160.6 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents.

In the Republic of Ireland, 326 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, including 22 new cases in Donegal. There have been no more deaths.

Donegal has overtaken Dublin as the area with the highest rate of cases, with the county now with 148.2 cases per 100,000 residents.

The Irish death toll from Covid-19 stands at 1,797 with 34,315 confirmed cases.

Sinn Féin TD Padraig MacLochlainn said people should not travel to Donegal “for vacation or entertainment reasons.”

He said the complacency of a “small number of our people” may have caused the virus to resurface in the Northwest.

The new restrictions in the county of Ireland will affect businesses that rely on cross-border tourism and trade.

Londonderry Chamber of Commerce President Redmond McFadden said that was the “price we have to pay.”

“We have to get over this. We can’t be complacent. People have to do the right thing, it’s that simple,” he said.

Foyle MP Colum Eastwood said the restrictions in Donegal would be difficult for people in Derry and Strabane.

Donegal’s stricter restrictions mean that people are again being asked to work from home whenever possible and only take essential trips by public transport.

Visitors to private homes and gardens should be limited to a maximum of six people from another home.

There will be no meetings organized indoors and outdoor meetings must have a maximum of 15 people.

Peter McLaughlin is a former mayor of Buncrana and a pub owner in the city.

He said it was difficult to understand what was behind the recent increase in the region, but people in Donegal would support the new measures.

“There is a certain level of fatigue, but people are very aware of what they have to do,” he said.

Currently, another 21 employees are self-isolating “as a precautionary measure,” said Strabane-based sportswear firm O’Neills.

Meanwhile, the Irish government is extending restrictions on universities and colleges of higher education.

For the next two weeks, face-to-face teaching will be limited to hands-on classes only where online teaching is not possible.