Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has warned that a lockdown may be needed again at the national level to contain the growing covid spread.
The minister made the announcement at a special committee on Covid-19, he shared the view that the spread of the disease should be considered seriously.
It is shocking that 28.5 out of a million people in Ireland are coronavirus infected. The minister pointed out that the situation in Ireland is alarming when compared with 22.5 per 100,000 people in the UK, 20.7 per cent in Germany and 16.5 per cent in Italy.
The comment comes in the wake of an increase in Covid cases yesterday as well. Yesterday itself there were 164 confirmed cases in Ireland and it is on a rise across the country.
93 new cases were confirmed in Dublin alone and 22 cases in Kildare.
The Minister fully supported the Chief Medical Officer, Ronan Glyn, who was massively criticizes by the GAA for banning the spectators at the sports grounds.
The main duty of the CMO is to provide guidance to the ministry and for the authorities, he is focusing only on saving lives, said the Minister.
The easiest thing the NPHET can do in the world is to shut down all sports. That’s what they did.
Ireland is at the tipping point and the country is staring at the national lockdown and this issue should be considered seriously.
For overcoming this pandemic situation, it is important to follow the guideline from the CMO and other experts.
Thus it is important to stop sports and games, so the decision of the Department off Health is quite reasonable, the Minister warned.