Ireland Should Consider Closing Borders According to Infectious Disease Expert

One of the leading infectious disease experts in Ireland, Dr. Paddy Mallon, has said that the government should consider closing Irish borders to prevent new infections coming into the State.

Dr. Mallon, a consultant at St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin and professor of microbial diseases at University College Dublin, said that one of the major risks to Ireland was more new Covid-19 infections coming in from abroad.

The warning from Dr. Mallon comes after the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) posted an update saying that it would “temporarily cease accepting new applications” for Ireland visas.

Dr. Mallon said:

“We have got our own outbreak in the country that we are trying to extinguish but the big threat is new infections coming in.”

“We should be looking seriously over the next week at protecting our borders and stopping new infections coming in because it will give us the ability to control the infections that we have.”

“We have got our own outbreak in the country that we are trying to extinguish but the big threat is new infections coming in.”

Time for Consensus and Quick Moves

The Health Service Executive (HSE) said it was “impossible to predict” when infections will reach a peak but are planning for the worst of the crisis to hit in mid-April.

Professor Sam McConkey of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland has called on political parties on all sides to come together to build a “unity government that helps us beat the virus in the next few months”.

Prof. McConkey believes that stricter travel and quarantine rules as well as tracing technology for individuals could be crucial in combating the spread of Covid-19 in the State.

However, McConkey is under no illusions about the difficulty of quick political actions and decisions.

In an interview with the Irish Times, Prof. McConkey said that “in a political system that is used to slow deliberation, it will not be an easy task to achieve an agreed outcome in a few days.”

Infectious disease and medical experts believe that closing Irish borders could be necessary. [Image: RTE]

Covid-19 Cases in Ireland

At the time of writing, the death toll in the Republic of Ireland from Covid-19 is 46 and the total number of cases stands at 2,615.

In Northern Ireland, six more deaths have been reported, which brings the overall number of deaths on the island of Ireland to 67, with 3,025 confirmed cases.

The HSE is preparing for a surge of coronavirus cases in the coming weeks. Efforts are being made to scale up the number of critical care beds with life-saving ventilators in anticipation of the expected spike in the number of patients critically ill with Covid-19.

On Saturday, 88 Covid-19 patients were in intensive care and there were 167 intensive care unit beds still available.

Paul Reid, who is the chief executive of the HSE, said that the possibility of Ireland’s critical care bed capacity being reached in just over two weeks is “a very significant concern.”

Unfortunately, problems are emerging with the testing for Covid-19. Mr Raid said that there are “very significant pinch points” in carrying out the tests because of the shortage of reagents, which is the extraction element used in test kits which go to laboratories.

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