Irish coronavirus cases expected

It’s only a matter of time before the coronavirus reaches Irish shores, and our overstretched hospitals may struggle to cope with an outbreak.

That’s according to Lord Mayor of Cork and local GP Cllr John Sheehan who says that a major global outbreak is “very much overdue”.

“I think it's only a matter of time, given the amount of travel that happens within Europe. The world gets a relatively big outbreak every ten years, and a major outbreak every forty to fifty years. We haven't had one since 1968,” the Lord Mayor told the Cork Independent.

He added: “So when things like SARS and bird flu come along, people are wondering ‘is this the big one?’”

His comments come as pharmacies around Ireland recorded massive spikes in facemask and hand gel sales, with facemasks now extremely hard to find.

Cara Pharmacy in Douglas says facemasks are now completely sold out.

“We have no masks. We haven't had masks for weeks and we don't know when we'll be getting them back in. It probably won't be any time soon,” the pharmacy representative said.

There are currently 90 suspected cases of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) tested in Ireland, however there have been no confirmed cases so far.

Speaking after a National Public Health Emergency Team meeting on Tuesday, Minister for Health Simon Harris welcomed a recommendation to cancel the upcoming Ireland vs Italy rugby match in the interest of public safety.

Following a subsequent meeting between the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) and Minister Harris yesterday, an agreement was reached to cancel the match.

In a statement the IRFU said: “We will immediately begin to work with our Six Nations partners to look at the possibility of rescheduling the matches and would hope to have an update on this in the coming days.”

Meanwhile in Cork, Christ King Secondary School on the South Douglas Road has issued a statement to parents after a number of students returned from a school tour in Italy, where Europe’s worst coronavirus outbreak is. The statement read: “Some of our students travelled to northern Italy from 12-17 February on a school tour.

“There are concerns as to what consequences this may have with regard to the coronavirus COVID-19. The principal has been in contact with the HSE and the advice to date is, if your daughter is feeling unwell, to contact your doctor for medical advice.”

According to statistics website worldometers.info, as of going to print, there have been 81,280 confirmed COVID-19 cases globally, and 2,770 deaths.