Coronavirus: Pressure builds to limit mass gatherings

The first meeting of a Cabinet committee on the coronavirus will take place at Government Buildings on Monday as Ireland comes under pressure to follow a number of other European countries in limiting large public gatherings.

The French government announced on Sunday it was banning all gatherings of more than 1,000 people in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19, a move that casts doubt on whether the Six Nations rugby finale between France and Ireland in Paris next Saturday will go ahead.

Germany's health minister has recommended a similar ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people, although it is not yet government policy, while Italy has put almost a quarter of the country in lockdown due to the rapid spread of the disease.

Officials and medical staff were on Sunday updating briefings for Ministers and senior civil servants ahead of Monday’s Cabinet subcommittee meeting.

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Members of the committee – chaired by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and including Tánaiste Simon Coveney, Minister for Health Simon Harris, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe and Minister for Transport Shane Ross – will be briefed on the latest infection statistics and projections for future infections by public health and infectious diseases experts.

While there are no plans to postpone the St Patrick’s Day festival and parade, officials said on Sunday that European developments – including the new measures in Italy and crowd controls elsewhere – would be discussed by Ministers on Monday.

Opposition parties are due to be briefed after the meeting.

The number of cases of Covid-19 in the Republic climbed to 21 over the weekend, with two cases identified on Sunday – in the south and the east – said to be community transmissions.

A male in the south who contracted the coronavirus is linked to the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork, while a female in the east also tested positive for the virus, with a risk assessment under way, the HSE said.

A man, also from the east, who had travelled from Italy, became the 19th confirmed case on Saturday.

In Northern Ireland, the number of confirmed cases rose by three to seven.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has also updated its travel advice covering Italy and is warning against non-essential travel to regions of northern Italy, including both Milan and Venice, after the government there put almost a quarter of the country in lockdown due to the rapid spread of the disease.

Italian surge

The number of people who have died from the coronavirus in Italy jumped by 133 to 366 between Saturday and Sunday with total number of infections climbing 25 per cent from 5,883 to 7,375.

The sharp rise in cases prompted unprecedented restrictions signed into law by prime minister Giuseppe Conte. The measures, which will remain in force until April 3rd, say people should not enter or leave Lombardy, Italy's richest region, and 14 provinces in four other regions, including Venice, Modena and Parma.

Mr Conte said nobody would be allowed to move in or out of these areas, or within them, unless they had proven, work-related reasons for doing so, or health issues.

“We are facing a national emergency... We have to limit the spread of the virus and prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed,” he said.

While the number of cases in the Republic remains low, fears are growing they could climb rapidly in the days ahead, with HSE chief executive Paul Reid saying he could not dispute reported projections that up to 1.9 million people in Ireland could contract Covid-19.

He was responding to a report in the Sunday Business Post that said health authorities here were forecasting about 40 per cent of the population could become sick as a result of the virus.

Coughing etiquette

Minister for Health Simon Harris said it was highly likely the country would see many more cases and he said people could help slow the spread of the virus by practising hand hygiene and coughing etiquette.

He stressed that “everything that can be done is being done” in relation to the coronavirus outbreak.

Mr Harris said he hoped to have clarity about the modelling projections on the potential extent of the spread of Covid-19 in Ireland following a meeting of health experts on Tuesday.

Recruitment restrictions in place in the health service have also been lifted, and the HSE has said there will be “no barriers to the recruitment of the workforce that is required to support our critical clinical services during the Covid-19” outbreak.

“The HSE are also expediting all other avenues in terms of those on panels and awaiting appointment, those who have left the service for reasons of retirement, career break, secondments etc are also being identified and contacted,” a spokeswoman said.

Siptu said on Sunday the move would apply not only to nurses but also other essential grades in the health service.