Easter could be 'Ireland’s Cheltenham', says doctor who tells us to 'stay home, eat chocolate'

Hand sanitisers at Cheltenham last month during the coronavirus outbreak

Infectious disease expert Dr Paddy Mallon has warned that this holiday weekend could be “Ireland’s Cheltenham” in terms of the spread of Covid-19.

The expected flood of cases has not yet happened in Ireland because of the measures everyone has taken and Government actions to date, Dr Mallon told Newstalk Breakfast.

The Government acted at the right time unlike the government in the UK, he said, where an event like Cheltenham was allowed to go ahead and now there are “tens of thousands” of cases as a result.

It was “one of the seminal” events that led to wider spread of the virus in the UK, he said.

The Easter bank holiday weekend could be “Ireland’s Cheltenham” if people in the east of the country (where there are more cases) “decide to take off”.

People need to stick with the message, if they do then next week “we could be seeing a drop off”.

Dr Mallon said there was “cautious optimism” and that if “everyone sticks with the plan” the flood could be halted.

“Treat this the same as every other weekend.

“Stay home, eat chocolate and next week we could be seeing good news.”

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