Progress is apparent but we need to stay at home for now

While this is still a fraught, anxious and dangerous time, there is cause to be positive.

Things are getting better and some countries are starting the very gradual process of returning to something like normality. Despite the worrying announcement on Tuesday evening that a further 36 people with Covid-19 have died, with 345 more confirmed cases, there is still room for optimism. Although the death toll in the Republic of Ireland now stands at 210, with 5,709 confirmed cases as of Tuesday, there are green shoots.

The good weather and Easter weekend coming up over the next few weekends may be a threat to the progress made in Ireland however. There have already been reports of large numbers of people heading to holiday homes, which is a worry.

Yesterday Cork County Council, after consultation with An Garda Siochána, began to close access to public car parks at 14 beachside locations across the county. In East Cork, the four entrances to Youghal beach are closed as well as access to Claycastle and Garryvoe. The Ballycotton Cliff Walk remains closed.

In Carrigaline, access to Fountainstown Beach is closed and the two public car parks at Garrylucas beach are closed. In West Cork, Barleycove, Garnish, Tragumna, Lough Hyne, The Warren, Inchydoney lower car park, Owenahincha and Long Strand are all closed.

Yesterday An Garda Síochána launched a major operation to ensure people comply with travel restrictions. Operation Fanacht will see a network of checkpoints across the country. It began yesterday and runs until Monday. It will involve thousands of checkpoints every day. At any one time, there will be over 2,500 gardaí involved in checkpoints or high visibility patrolling.

There are positives emerging in a number of countries however. Wuhan, the Chinese city where the coronavirus epidemic first broke out, has ended a two month lockdown this week. A number of European countries are to start easing restrictive coronavirus lockdown measures too. The leaders of Norway, Denmark, Czech Republic and Austria have announced varying plans this week, although they remain cautious as other countries like Japan and Singapore have seen upsurges after relaxing restrictions.

We will come through this, but we need to minimise the number of new cases and the number of deaths first. The more we stay at home now, the quicker we will get to return to something like normality. Stay at home this weekend!

I’ll leave the last word to Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Ian Doyle, writing in this week’s paper on page 10: “As Mayor of the County of Cork, I wish to extend my gratitude to everyone, because everyone has a role to play. Whether you’re cocooning, self-isolating or social distancing, your actions are benefiting the country.”