Vivienne Clarke
The Covid adviser for the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP), Dr Mary Favier, has said that she fears further restrictions are inevitable as the number of cases of Covid-19 continues to rise.
“It is so depressing to think about it,” she told Newstalk Breakfast.
“We need to find ways to work around it.”
Her comments come as the State recorded a further 3,174 cases of Covid on Wednesday.
Dr Favier pointed out that Ireland’s “tipping point” was lower than other European countries due to the underfunding of the health service for many years.
GPs were noticing a lot of Covid activity in the community, she added. People were calling from work with symptoms, but were resisting being tested. They were phoning looking for reassurance, but did not want to believe that they might have Covid-19, Dr Favier.
The rapid rise in cases was a cause for concern, she said, with a 49 per cent increase in the 7-day average.
“We can’t predict next week, but we can predict our own behaviour. Remember how cautious we were a year ago.”
Dr Favier said that further restrictions could not be “entirely ruled out”.
“It will come down to how we behave now.”
Although the vaccination programme had made a difference (from this time last year), hospitals were still under pressure which meant the cancellation of other treatments because of the number of ICU beds available, pointed out Dr Favier.
There was a need to support healthcare workers who were once again facing huge pressures and challenges, she said.
