A Sinn Féin TD for Co Donegal has said the establishment of a dedicated hotline to report Covid breaches to gardaí in the county is a bit of an exaggeration in terms of the challenge of managing the virus in the county.
Speaking on RTÉ s Drivetime, Pádraig MacLochlainn said that in recent weeks a couple of electoral areas had a little bit of a setback and a challenge in those areas but it doesn t justify the dogs in the streets comments or it doesn t justify dedicated hotlines for Donegal .
He said it s disheartening and demoralising for the vast majority of people in the county, who ve made huge personal sacrifices over the last year...to hear their county, as they see it, being knocked and scapegoated .
Speaking to Highland Radio on Tuesday, Garda Gráinne Doherty referred to birthday parties, beach parties, gatherings after funerals, and gatherings of secondary school students as areas of concern.
On Sunday, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said the incidence of the virus in Donegal was close to 300 per 100,000, while the national rate was 127 per 100,000.
On Saturday, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly called a meeting between NPHET and a number of Donegal politicians in an attempt to bring down the case numbers in the county.
Last week, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said that even the dogs on the street could see there were examples of people not complying with the Covid-19 guidelines in the county.
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Holohan warns of surge risk if too much social mixing
Updated / Monday, 3 May 2021
08:38
Dr Holohan said it is important that people keep up compliance with public health advice and existing restrictions
Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan has praised the sacrifices people have made over the last year, but warned that too much social mixing, especially indoors, even for those who have been vaccinated, will increase the risk of a further surge of Covid-19.
In an open letter published today in national newspapers, Dr Holohan says most of those vaccinated, so far, are people who would have been recommended to cocoon at the outset of the pandemic.