The Minister for Health Mr Stephen Donnelly has warned the public that mask-wearing on public transport and continued mask-wearing in health settings, may once again become mandatory, if Covid-19 cases continue to rise. He made this statement following discussions last night with the Chief Medical Officer, Prof. Breda Smyth.
Fewer people are wearing masks on public transport, or indeed in crowded places like Supermarkets, Entertainment Centres, and Sports Arenas as life attempts to returns to normality.
While Ireland is not alone in seeing a rise in Covid; cases here over the past 14 days have risen as was predicted. Today we are aware there are 474 Covid-19 patients in our republic’s hospitals, of which 13 remain in intensive care units (ICU); thus forcing medical facilities to operate separate twin admission systems, while attempting to deal with Covid and non-Covid patients.
The HSE, currently, does not operate PCR tests for people under the age of 55 for symptoms of Covid-19, unless they are otherwise recorded as being unhealthy. This makes it difficult to get a true overall accurate image of the scale of infection within communities.
The Government’s current approach is to encourage further uptake of vaccines and booster doses, as advertised daily in media adverts.
Recent figures show that one in 40 people in Northern Ireland are currently infected, and with influenza and respiratory viruses also rearing their ugly heads, this in turn is bound to make conditions a bit more difficult over this winter and spring period.
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