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A local GP in a west of Ireland "hotspot" has called for a nightly curfew in order to curb a surge of local Covid-19 outbreaks in his community.
Dr Keith Swanick points out that north-west Mayo has been swamped with cases in recent weeks and insists that extreme mitigation measures are now needed.
Belmullet Electoral Area has been listed as the having the highest number of Covid-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past two weeks. Roughly one in every 50 people had Covid-19 in the region over the last 14 days.
Dr Swanick, who is based in Belmullet, for a curfew in all areas where the disease is rampant. Curfew times he proposes would run from 9pm to 6am daily.
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He is also called for priority vaccination measures for north west Mayo, particularly for frontline health staff, in the wake of the latest local Covid statistics.