Government: No link between spread of Covid-19 and roll out of 5G telephone masts

Liz Canavan

The Government has said there is no link between the spread of Covid-19 and the roll out of 5G telephone masts.

At its daily briefing, the government responded to weekend vandalism of masts in Donegal and said that the rumours of such a link are false.

Department of An Taoiseach official, Liz Canavan, said the European Union has confirmed that no such link exists and urged people not to rely on disinformation.

She said that the destruction of such masts will impact on people's ability to remain in contact with their loved ones and the emergency services at a time of restriction.

Following on from Friday's announcement that Leaving Cert examinations have been postponed, she confirmed that practical exams as part of the State exams have been deferred from May to the end of July and the beginning of August.

She also confirmed that the delay in the holding of the Leaving Cert will in turn delay the college application process and the Higher Education Authority is to work with universities and other colleges to oversee the scheduling of the process.

While Ms Canavan said there are encouraging signs that what we are doing is working, she expressed alarm that in Ireland we are seeing a 66% rate of community transmission.

This means that two-thirds of the cases confirmed here have been contracted by people socialising and mixing with other people here, as opposed to it coming in from overseas.

She also spoke of an increasing number of clusters among some of society's most vulnerable groups like the elderly and such clusters emphasise the ongoing risk of disease to general public.

She said it is too early to lift restrictions, saying the country will have to “wait and watch a bit longer”.

“Whatever we do next will have to be done carefully and cautiously,” she said.

She said Gardaí reported that there was a high level of compliance with guidelines over the weekend but that compliance needs to continue.

In terms of business supports, she said there are now 42,100 companies registered for the temporary wage support scheme.

In total, €199m has been paid out to businesses so far since the crisis began.

In terms of the emergency €350 payment, Ms Canavan said there is still a small number of people who have delivered incorrect bank details and officials are working to resolve those issues.

The current restrictions started on Friday, March 27. They mandate that everyone should stay at home, only leaving to:
• Shop for essential food and household goods;
• Attend medical appointments, collect medicine or other health products;
• Care for children, older people or other vulnerable people - this excludes social family visits;
• Exercise outdoors - within 2kms of your home and only with members of your own household, keeping 2 metres distance between you and other people
• Travel to work if you provide an essential service - be sure to practice physical distancing

She reissued an apology from the Department of Employment and Social Protection after it mistakenly issued an email telling people were not entitled to payments.

She said the department launched an investigation and has determined the source of the error, and apologised and assured people payments will continue.

In relation to child welfare, Tusla has said child welfare referrals are lower than normal because of Covid-19.