A NPHET member has warned that Covid restrictions could be in place till April or May if people do not curtail their movements.
Covid adviser to the Irish College of General Practitioners, Dr Mary Favier has issued the stark warning as it is clear to see that many people are not adhering to the public health advice.
Speaking to Newstalk this morning, Dr Favier said “We are not doing enough, there is still too much movement.”
She admitted that a lot of people are adhering to the public guidelines but recognises the fact that too many were still “out and about.”
Dr Favier also discussed the fact that GPs are seeing more Covid cases. “GPs are continuing to see lots of Covid cases. We had thought it had eased, but towards the end of last week we started seeing asymptomatic patients that need testing.”
She went on to admit that “We have to reduce contacts.”
With hospitals under severe pressure and many people still going into work, Dr Favier warned that “We’re still going to be in this situation until March, April or May.”
The warning comes as well over a hundred people were fined for travelling to the Wicklow mountains this weekend.
Gardaí received special new powers last week to issue fines of €100 to anyone in breach of the 5km rule. It has been reported that up to 170 people were fined in the past few days for travelling to the Wicklow mountains.
Irene Winters a Fine Gael councillor for Wicklow said “You don’t want to get it from a stranger and you don’t want to give it to a stranger.”
“Stay in your own area, break the transmission. And that’s what people need to do.”
“Now in Co Wicklow, we would love for people to come and visit and we welcome visitors all year but not at the moment.”
“Come back in the summer when there are no travel restrictions. In the meantime, Wicklow and everybody should be staying in their own 5km.” (Per, The Irish Examiner)
Other fines have been issued all around the country. 30 people were fined at Newcastle Woods in Roscommon while a group of people were fined near the M7 in Newbridge in Kildare for making an unnecessary journey and a man was fined in Louth for being 100km away from his residence.
Last week three people were fined for travelling 80km to buy some burgers. You can read Radio Nova’s report on it here.
For the latest guidelines on Ireland’s Level 5 restrictions, check out the Government website here.
