Cause for concern, not panic, says Cork GP as Covid cases rise in second Omicron wave

A CORK GP has expressed some concern over rising Covid-19 case numbers and said he would be in favour of seeing the mandatory face mask requirement being reintroduced in enclosed spaces.

Dr Nick Flynn of MyCorkGP said he is “concerned” by the level of sickness in the community, but he believes the situation is less precarious than at other stages of the pandemic.

“We’re seeing an awful lot of people in the community at the moment who are sick and miserable and require extra care but don’t need to go to hospital. I would be concerned - not as concerned as before,” he told The Echo.

Whilst he welcomed the reopening of society, Dr Flynn said it was his opinion that removing the mandatory face mask requirement was somewhat premature.

“I do think opening up society is welcome and it’s good to see businesses reopening and social events taking place, but I don’t really understand the disregarding of masks and maybe social distancing.

“You could reopen society and say to people in a crowded place you still have to wear a mask, not make it optional but make it obligatory,” he said.

“This is spring going into summer and we’re seeing numbers go up.

“We’ll probably have a very difficult winter with it again.

“Having said that, I don’t think any article should be alarmist.

“We are in a new phase where we are not going to hopefully have any harsh lockdowns anymore and we do need to learn to live with this virus.

“Learning to live with it is knowing how to mitigate the spread of it. You mitigate the spread of it by wearing a mask, washing your hands, keeping your distance – like we’ve been doing from the start,” he continued.

NO RETURN TO RESTRICTIONS

Speaking yesterday, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said the rise in the number of Covid cases is a "cause for concern, not a cause for panic".

He made the comments as the country commemorated those who lost their lives to Covid.

Cork and Covid: The community initiatives that kept people together while physically apart https://t.co/dR4TrK1uBW

— EchoLive.ie (@echolivecork) March 17, 2022

The event, entitled the National Day of Remembrance and Reflection Ceremony, took place in the Garden of Remembrance in north Dublin.

The ceremony paid tribute to those who died during the pandemic and those who battled the challenges posed by the disease.

"Even as we mark this occasion today, there are about 50 people in ICU with Covid and 1,100 people in hospital," Mr Varadkar said.

"That, of course, reminds us that the pandemic is ongoing.

"It's a cause for concern, not a cause for panic.

"We're monitoring the situation very tightly, and really encouraging people who haven't had their booster to have that because we know that the immunity from the virus wears off.

"We're also giving consideration as to whether we need to start on a fourth dose programme, particularly for older people in those who are medically vulnerable."

Asked whether the Government is considering bringing in further restrictions to deal with the current wave, Mr Varadkar said: "I don't think it's going to require the reimposition of restrictions.

"It is a very different situation at the moment. About half of those in hospital with Covid would be in hospital anyway, it's incidental finding in their cases.

"This is another wave, but we don't anticipate it will necessitate the reimposition of restrictions, but other things need to continue.

"We need to make sure that people have those boosters and third doses."

He said that Europe is currently seeing a second wave of the Omicron variant.

There has been no reporting of new Covid-19 figures in Ireland since March 16 due to the extended bank holiday weekend.

On that date, Wednesday, March 16, there were 14,096 new cases nationally.