Coronavirus: Visiting family and friends risks virus spread, says Harris

Main points

• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for Covid-19.
• Yesterday was the single most deadly day for Coronavirus as the worldwide death toll reached 24,000 and the United States became the country with the most infections
• China bars entry by almost all foreigners in effort to slow virus
• Large number of public service staff to be redeployed to contact tracing.
• Full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic
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Minister for Health Simon Harris has warned that people visiting friends or family unnecessarily are at greater risk of spreading the coronavirus than people who are arriving in Ireland from abroad.

“If you decide to continue to leave your home unnecessarily, then you are risking spreading this virus. If you’re leaving your house today to make an unnecessary visit to a friend or family member, you’re at much greater risk of spreading that virus than anybody else arriving in our country,” Mr Harris told Newstalk’s Pat Kenny show.

He said community transmission now accounts for over 50 per cent of cases, and the proportion of travel-related cases is set to go down and down.

Ten more patients with Covid-19 died in Ireland on Thursday – by far the highest daily death toll so far in the outbreak.

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There was also a record daily number of new confirmed cases, at 255, according to the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET). There have now been 1,819 cases of coronavirus in the Republic, and 19 deaths.

The extent to which the virus is circulating in the health system was revealed in new figures that show nine clusters of infection among vulnerable patients in nursing homes, eight in hospitals and two in long-stay residential accommodation.

The deputy chief medical officer at the Department of Health Dr Ronan Glynn said the increase of community transmission has been a concern "for a number of weeks".

“Community transmission means that people are picking it up, and we don’t know where those individuals have got it from so we can’t link them back to other confirmed cases.

“When that happens it makes it harder for us to control the spread of it so community transmission will remain one of the key factors that we look at when we consider how we’re progressing with this.”

However, Dr Glynn said he is hopeful the “unprecedented level of compliance” with restriction measures will have an impact on levels of the coronavirus.

“We are hopeful that what we are seeing in terms of people’s behaviour, I think we’ve seen a really unprecedented level of compliance and willingness to adhere to the measures that we’ve recommended, and ultimately it’s that that will make the difference here.

“It’s not ICU capacity, it’s not the hospital system, it’s everybody in their homes doing their bit,” Dr Ronan Glynn told Newstalk Breakfast.

Personal protective equipment

NPHET officials said the health service was running low on some protective equipment, particularly goggles.

"Based on the information we have, we believe we have enough to bridge us through to the delivery from China next week," HSE chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry told a media briefing on Thursday night.

Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast on Friday, intensive care specialist Dr Suzanne Crowe explained the importance of personal protective equipment in intensive care.

Intensive care units have a buddy system among staff to assist each other in putting on and removing PPE which was vital to avoid cross contamination between patients and staff, she said.

Dr Crowe explained the public might not appreciate the items that have to be worn in intensive care units – they include scrubs, a hat covering hair, a full-length heavy vinyl gown that is tied down the back which is heavy and warm, she said.

Staff also have to wear goggles and a full face clear mask similar to that worn by a welder.

All these items have to be removed and disposed of carefully between patients. The garments have to be removed very carefully and staff have to wash their hands after removing each item.

Taking off the protective gear is quite a laborious process, said Dr Crowe, but it was a procedure that intensive care staff had trained for.