Locking down the “circuit breaker” is essential to prevent Kovid-19 in Northern Ireland, a senior medical adviser has warned if the rise in cases of the Northern Corona virus continues.
Dr. of the North Public Health Agency. Jerry Waldron made his comments Sunday. The North Department of Health reported 462 confirmed cases of Kovid-19. The total number of cases rose to 14,074.
One more death was reported, bringing the death toll to 584. On Saturday the department reported 726 new confirmed cases in the daily bulletin, and an additional Kovid-19 death. That means there were 1,188 new cases in the North on Saturday and Sunday.
Although these daily figures are below 934 positive tests reported on Friday, it is of great concern to senior doctors and politicians.
North Indian Finance Minister Connor Murphy said the Northern executive should look into a strict “circuit breaker” lockdown, saying it would be better if it happened on an island basis.
In the last seven days, 3,289 people have been confirmed infected with the virus. Of these, 733 were in the Belfast Council area, 731 in the Derry and Strabain area, 521 in Nure, Morn and Downen, and 266 in Mid-Ulster.
Although the cascade is high, the number of patients in the hospital is relatively low, yet health experts point to the delay between the increase in cases and hospital admissions.
On Sunday, 75 patients were treated at Kovid-19 Hospital, nine of whom were treated in the intensive care unit and seven on ventilators.
As the number of cases increased in the coming days, the “circuit breaker” was “considering and talking” and the Northern Executive would look into whether such a move was necessary.
Such a circuit breaker level can take two to three weeks of heavy controls to try to limit the spread of Kovid-19.
“If the numbers are growing as we have seen, I think it’s inevitable that we will move forward,” he told the BBC.
“We need to see for ourselves how things will turn out in the next few days and next week,” he said. Waldron added.
Halloween proceedings
The executive understands that the end of the month is considered a two or three week lockdown around Halloween.
Murphy said more stringent options, including an executive circuit breaker, should be considered if it is clear that local controls currently in place in the Derry and Strabine areas do not reduce the rate of infection.
“If there is no significant reduction in this regard within the next week, follow-up action needs to be considered,” he said.
Murphy said if such a move is needed it will be widely applied to the island and will happen in Britain as well.
“We need to look across the island, because such a move would be very difficult to take effect, and it must be one that carries across the island, because we know the virus does not respect any boundaries,” he told the BBC.
A member of the Nury and Armag Assembly said it was logical that such a lockdown would apply across the UK and Ireland.
The border is very fluid. If you have a set of restrictions on one side of the border, not the other, it weakens the impact of those restrictions, ”he said.
“Also there is a lot of traffic between this island and the UK, so there must be the most effective circuit breaker… if it is right across the islands it will be the most effective.”
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