Next week ‘key’ in managing any coronavirus outbreak in Cork, lord mayor warns

Next week will be “key” in managing any corona virus outbreak in Cork, the Lord Mayor said at a meeting with Ireland’s Chinese Ambassador who said that the disease “can be beaten”.

China has now contained the virus to such an extent that all new cases in some provinces are being brought in from abroad, Chinese Ambassador to Ireland, He Xiangdong said.

“The number of confirmed cases in China are reducing very noticeably,” Mr Xiangdong said. “Now we’re seeing quite a few new confirmed cases are from people coming from abroad. In my home province the day before yesterday there were seven new confirmed cases – all of them were from Northern Italy.”

The Ambassador said that China has worked with Ireland, sharing information with the Department of Public Health and the HSE, in a bid to defeat the virus.

“There has been sound cooperation between the Chinese side and the Irish side... and we would like to continue this important cooperation.

“It can be beaten. If you look back in history there have been a lot of cases similar to this one.

“We have full confidence that in the near future we will be successful in defeating the disease.”

Cork City’s Lord Mayor, Cllr John Sheehan, who is also a GP, quashed current concerns that the St Patrick’s Day parade would be cancelled due to the virus.

“There’s no indication for us to cancel it,” he said. “There’s no person-to-person spread that we know of in Ireland yet. So reducing mass gatherings isn’t on the agenda at the moment. But it’s an evolving situation and things may change over the next week.”

He said that the next week would “probably be a key time” in the disease’s progression in Ireland because the incubation period for many of those who travelled to Italy will end soon.

“So I think we’ll get a much better idea over the next week if it’s going to spread further,” he said.

Responding to a question about whether COVID-19 may actually be man-made and have leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, Mr Xiangdong said: “That’s total nonsense. Fake news. Scientists already carried out in-depth analysis into the genomic information of the virus which shows that it can’t be made in the lab.”

Also speaking at the solidarity meeting between the Irish and Chinese communities in City Hall, Cork, Alex Lin, Vice President of Ireland Cork Chinese Business association said that although the corona virus had already had an impact on the world economy, he did not foresee a global crash.

“Trade had to stop because the factories stopped. But more people are going back to the factories. I think 70% - 80% recovered already so hopefully we’ll be getting back to normal soon.

“I don’t think there will be a global economic crash.

“But small businesses have been hit. In Ireland a lot of Chinese restaurants have seen the impact already. Goods are more expensive now and it’s hard to sell. Many people are just not going there out of fear.”

Messages of solidarity sent by University College Cork (UCC) academics were so well received in China that they ended up on national media there, said Emma Connolly, International Strategy Officer for the International Office at UCC, who was in China at the time of the Sars outbreak.

“We’re trying to support our 500 plus Chinese students on campus,” she said.

“Messages of solidarity from our academics to their counterparts in our 40 partner universities across China have been very well received.”

Also reinforcing the importance of solidarity, the lord mayor said:“We’re conscious that the Chinese community here can sometimes feel the effect of the worry and concern people might have over the Coronavirus. So [this meeting] it’s to show solidarity with the strong Chinese community that’s here.”