Limerick Covid outbreak: Cases close schools and businesses but no lockdown decision made
Local politicians and health officials have been meeting this afternoon. Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos
Limerick county will escape a local lockdown however it “has not been ruled out” after a surge of Covid19 cases.
Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly met with public representatives, public health doctors, local politicians and community leaders from the Limerick area, to discuss the recent steep rise in confirmed cases.
Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Dr Mai Mannix, Director of Public Health, HSE Mid-West were also in attendance.
Dr Holohan told the meeting that he would “never rule out” a local lockdown for anywhere in the country, but it’s not “on his radar” at the moment.
A statement from the Department of Public Health Mid-West said the recent spike in cases is linked to indoor gatherings including household visits, organised small to large social events, family and extended family gatherings, birthday parties, and house parties.
The statement said a small number of Leaving Cert students will not sit their exams after contracting the virus or their confirmation as a close contact of a case.
Outbreaks resulting from a private residence have compounded active case clusters in the region, according to the statement, has had a significant knock-on effect in the community, adversely affecting settings such as workplaces and schools.
The department said it is aware of a number of outbreaks that have led to local businesses and schools to temporarily close.
Attendees of the meeting heard that figures are especially high in those aged 19-44 who are unvaccinated, with a positivity rate of between 9-10% for those aged 35-54.
There will be no new testing centres added, but the capacity of the current walk-in centre will be doubled.
The meeting also heard that the time between doses for those who have received the Astra Zeneca vaccine will be reduced from 14 weeks down to 11 weeks and consistently until reaching doses eight weeks apart.
It’s understood this will affect around 400,000 people.
There have been more than 800 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Limerick over the past fortnight with an incidence of 426 cases per 100,000 of population.
Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly said the surge in cases is linked to people meeting indoors.
“Public health doctors have told us that this spike is a result of indoor socialising and workplace outbreaks,” he said.
“It is simply too soon to stop adhering to the public health measures that have protected us so well for so long.
“Our priority in Limerick - and indeed around the country - is to suppress the virus until such a time that we have the vast majority of our population vaccinated.
“Please avoid crowds, wear a mask where appropriate, wash your hands, maintain your social distance, socialise outdoors and, most importantly, if you display any symptoms of Covid-19 or suspect you are a close contact of a confirmed case then attend a test centre for a free test.
“These are the measures that work and are all the more vital for those in Limerick in the coming days. I have faith that we can do this now, as we have done in the past.”
Meanwhile, department of health officials have identified 529 confirmed cases of Covid-19 this evening.
Due to the recent cyberattack on HSE IT systems there no figures available for Covid-related deaths.
The department also confirmed 86 people are currently hospitalised with the coronavirus.
28 of these patients are receiving treatment in intensive care for the virus.
The daily case numbers may change due to future data review and validation.
Earlier Chief Medical Officer, Tony Holohan, said that is not safe for unvaccinated people to gather in Limerick.
Dr Holohan's warning comes after 900 cases of Covid-19 have been reported in the county over the past two weeks.
Mr Holohan spoke on , before a meeting with Limerick health officials and politicians at 4pm this afternoon.
“The society and economy are continuing on the path of opening up and easing restrictions, which will make things possible for people to do,” Mr Holohan said.
“Really, in Limerick at the moment, the levels of infection are so high that we think that for people who are not vaccinated, that is not going to be safe to do some of these things.
"We think the right thing now is for us to really focus on getting a clear public health message, particularly in advance of the bank holiday weekend,” he added.
Earlier today, Minister of State, Niall Collins, said Limerick is "a bit removed from" a local lockdown "at the moment.”
However, he warned that the Covid-19 situation in Limerick remains "very serious."
"Our incidence rates per 100,000 population is 411 and yesterday we accounted for 20% of the national figure, we had in excess of 100 cases yesterday when it was just shy of 514 nationally, it's quite serious and it's quite concerning here in Limerick,” Mr Collins said.
Mr Collins said that local lockdowns, which had been mooted to stem the spread, "are very divisive, they're very disruptive, extremely unpopular, but they are effective", but said he felt the county was a bit removed from such a move yet.
"Really the numbers that we've been experiencing over the last two to three weeks has been extraordinarily high," Mr Collins said.
Mr Collins said it was a "combination of both" workplace settings and people meeting socially, noting a number of builders have been impacted, both in the county and in the city.
"This isn't exclusive to one part of Limerick, it's spread quite uniformly across the country," he said.
"It's to do with indoor both socialising and people working so I think the message has to be reinforced that we need to adhere to the public health advice.
The CEO of the Health Service Executive, Paul Reid, described the situation in Limerick as "very volatile" and it needs to be addressed urgently.
Mr Reid said that the rise in Covid cases in Limerick was down to a number of factors such as outbreaks in work and social settings and households.
The situation remained very volatile, he said, before adding the warning: “the virus has caught us every time we dropped our guard.”
A crisis meeting is taking place later today between health officials and politicians in Limerick over the recent spike in cases.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan last night delivered a stern warning about the situation in Limerick, saying the "majority" of the county's 800 Covid-19 cases in the past fortnight had resulted from indoor gatherings.
He and Health Minister Stephen Donnelly are to brief Limerick Oireachtas representatives on the issue later today.
“The situation hasn’t improved and it’s opportune to have a briefing with the Minister for Health and CMO and to hear about what more the HSE can do and to help reinforce the public health message across the city and the county,” Mr Collins told the .
Today we are reporting a significant increase in cases in Limerick with incidence increasing sharply to 411/100,000.
— Dr Tony Holohan (@DrTonyHolohan) June 3, 2021
There have been more than 800 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in Limerick in the past fortnight, the majority of which occurred as a result of indoor gatherings.
The surge in Covid infections, he said, was evident across the city and county and more pop-up or temporary Covid-19 test centres may help to bring the surge under control, in particular to serve the Newcastle West and Kilmallock areas in the west and south east of the county.
“Testing centres have been overrun. They have been referring people away to Nenagh and Ennis and they need more capacity.
“I think the further reopening on Monday will help because people will have choices to go into managed settings. The conversation we are having today in Limerick will help raise awareness of this message.”
“People are concerned. People are aware of the surge in Limerick and it’s a talking point among people,” Mr Collins said, adding that while the vaccination programme was rolling out at pace there was a concern for those who were not yet vaccinated.
As the long weekend approaches, Minister Collins appealed to the public to adhere to public health guidelines by meeting outdoors and limiting the number of households to three, wearing masks and remaining socially distanced.
The latest figures come as people across the Mid-West have been urged to be safe this Bank Holiday Weekend, after nearly 900 cases of Covid-19 were recorded in the region over the past two weeks.
On Wednesday, 103 new cases were reported in Limerick alone, while Clare saw seven and there were fewer than five cases reported in North Tipperary.
The figures come from the Mid-West Major Emergency Management Group, which is made up of Public Health Mid-West, HSE Mid-West Community Healthcare, UL Hospitals Group as well as each of the three area’s respective County Councils and Garda Divisions.
The statement confirmed that over the two weeks, there has been an increase of more than 800 cases in Limerick, 48 cases in Clare, and 32 cases in North Tipperary.
“The vast majority of new Covid-19 cases in the past two weeks have been associated with indoor gatherings, house parties, household visits, family gatherings, and largely indoor activity,” the statement reads.
Chief Superintendent Gerry Roche, Limerick Garda Division, said that Gardai understand that people want to and are allowed to meet up outdoors but it must be in line with public health guidelines.
It is not the sole responsibility of An Garda Siochána to control crowds and encourage people to follow the guidelines, we are all responsible for our own actions,” Chief Superintendent Roche said.
Mayor of the City and County of Limerick Cllr Michael Collins warned the public that we cannot afford to give an, as we near the return to “some semblance of normality.”
“We have sacrificed so much as a society over the past year or so, that we need to remain resilient and continue to guard against Covid,” Mr Collins said.
Dr Mai Mannix, Director of Public Health Mid-West, said they are aware that many people will be looking forward to enjoying the long weekend, especially as the hospitality sector starts to re-open.
However, she appealed to the public to continue following Public Health guidelines when meeting with friends and family to reduce the risk of catching Covid-19. “With regards to the high incidence rate in Limerick, we are currently going through a period of active case finding, allowing us to track, trace, and follow the disease in the region,” Dr Mannix said.
“Things will get worse before they get better, but we are hopeful we will overcome this outbreak with the help of the public availing of walk-in testing and adhering to Public Health guidelines,” she added.
Colette Cowan, CEO, UL Hospitals Group, said that although great progress has been made with the vaccination programme, a significant proportion of the population does not have that protection.
This means people in all age groups are at risk of becoming severely ill due to Covid-19.
As well as that, a sustained high incidence in Covid-19 transmission across the Mid-West has the potential to cause severe disruption in the hospitals when they are attempting to recover from a devastating cyberattack.
Dr Pat Daly, Chief Executive of Limerick City and County Council encouraged the public to enjoy this weekend, in a safe manner, but added that the re-opening is “dependent on every one of us being careful and following the rules.”
The HSE self-referral walk-in and drive-through Covid-19 test centre will continue to operate until next Wednesday, June 9, from 11am to 7pm.
Self-referral walk-in/drive-through Covid-19 test centres in Mid-West:
- Ballysimon Road, Limerick City (Unit 6D Eastpoint Business Park, V94 KN73) Self-referral from 8am to 4pm
- St Joseph’s Health Campus, Mulgrave Street (former St Joseph's Hospital, V94 N4C0) Self-referral from 11am to 6.15pm (June 3rd to June 9th)
- Nenagh (Former Castlebrand Factory, Tyone, E45 TY04) Self-referral from 9am to 7.45pm
- Ennis (Block 1, Ballymalley Business Park, V95 Y981) Self-referral from 12pm to 6pm
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
