Spike in Covid cases at Limerick's Mary Immaculate College 

Students asked to avoid mixing after 'sharp increase' in cases in the past seven days

It is understood Covid cases occurred as a result of increased social mixing between houses, resulting in multi-household outbreaks among the student population. File picture: Brian Lawless

Students in Limerick's Mary Immaculate College have been asked to avoid mixing households and attending social gatherings after a spike in the number of cases associated with the college.

In an email to the student body, Professor Eugene Wall, president of MIC, said it had been working closely with the Department of Public Health Mid-West, which has reported 46 Covid-19 cases associated with students from the college since the start of the year.

“The vast majority of these cases were recorded in the past four weeks, with a sharp increase in the past seven days,” Prof Wall said in the email.

These students are reported to be living in off-campus accommodation in Limerick City centre.

In the email, Professor Wall said that according to the Department of Public Health, the current B117 strain circulating in the community is far more transmissible than previous variants of the disease. This means single Covid cases rapidly escalate to whole household outbreaks.

It is understood these cases occurred as a result of increased social mixing between houses, resulting in multi-household outbreaks among the student population.

If one member of an affected household visits a friend in another house for a cup of tea or a chat, the infection quickly spreads to the next household and, so, simple day-to-day social interactions are leading to significant increases in positive cases”

“You can prevent this by staying within your own household and not visiting other households or attending social gatherings of any kind,” Prof Wall said.

The president of MIC went on to say he appreciates how difficult this ongoing situation is for everyone and that he is grateful for the tremendous effort that is being made by the majority of students.

Finishing the email, which was sent out to students the night before St Patrick’s Day, the Prof Wall asked students to avoid household visits or social gatherings of any kind as “the finish line is almost in sight".