Covid-19: One in five cases in Cork linked to pubs and restaurants
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The rate of Covid-19 in Cork is "rising fast" with one in five cases now linked to pubs and restaurants.
The county recorded a further 27 cases today, bringing to 364 the total in Cork over the last fortnight, with Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn saying the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) is now "very worried".
Dr Glynn confirmed 70 of those cases are linked to pubs and restaurants.
He says he is not focused on moving Cork to Level Three restrictions, similar to Donegal and Dublin, but government sources have cautioned that the county could be up for consideration as early as Friday.
Dr Glynn said the prospect of Cork city being locked down but the rest of the county remaining in Level Two could happen, as NPHET "continues to evolve its approach" to assessing local areas.
Michael O'Donovan, a publican in Cork city and chairman of the local branch of the Vintners Federation of Ireland, said it is disappointing to hear that 70 cases are linked to pubs and restaurants and he expressed concerns that pubs will once again be forced to close.
He highlighted that 'wet pubs' are only open since last Monday and many of the 70 cases could be linked to establishments serving food.
"We're asking people to please be vigilant and to follow the guidelines because if we don't, we don't want to be returning to a situation like in Dublin and Donegal where the bars could end up closing again," he said.
Dr Glynn reminded the people of Cork that there is more work to be done to stop the spread of the virus.
"I don't speculate on the need for additional measures. If additional measures are needed, that will be a recommendation made by NPHET on Thursday.
"The reason we highlight counties is that people can take a bit of additional action to try to avoid a situation where additional measures aren't required."
Dr Glynn said there had been a relaxation of distancing, saying that it was the "single biggest thing that people can do".
"There are no new messages - but one, in particular, is that people need to keep their distance."
Dr Ronan Glynn said that there would be "no vaccine, no treatment and no gamechanger" for the next six months, but he did not believe that despite the lack of an alternative plan to the government framework that "we are doomed".
" I don't believe there is an alternative strategy as things stand. But things can change."
An additional 390 cases of Covid-19 were reported tonight, with 209 of these cases in Dublin.
There has now been a total of 35,377 confirmed cases in Ireland.