Northern Ireland remains in the “containment” phase of the coronavirus outbreak, Chief Medical Officer Michael McBride said on Tuesday, after four new cases were diagnosed, bringing the total to 16.
The four latest cases involved adults, with one linked to recent travel from northern Italy and the three others linked to a previous case that also involved travel to northern Italy.
Efforts are underway to trace those who have been in contact with the newly-diagnosed people. None of the individuals who have been diagnosed with coronavirus – also known as Covid-19 — in the North have had serious underlying health conditions.
A total of 237 tests for coronavirus have been carried out to date, and approximately 100 individuals regarded as being at high risk of contracting the virus have been asked to self-isolate.
Speaking to reporters at a briefing in Belfast on Tuesday, the North’s Chief Medical Officer Michael McBride said the increase in the number of cases was anticipated and was “very likely” continue.
He said the health authorities had not yet seen any evidence of community transmission. While this was a “question of when, not if”, he said, “at this stage we remain in the containment phase”.
There would not be a sharp step from transmission from containment to delay, he said, and efforts were focused on “flattening the peak” of cases.
Delaying transmission would lessen the impact on the health service and allow time to further prepare and to work on a vaccine.
He said there was “no doubt we will see significant pressures on our health service”, but this was “absolutely something we are preparing for and planning for.”
Councillors in Belfast have voted to cancel the city’s St Patrick’s Day parade because of coronavirus. Other towns and cities in the North, including Derry, Newry and Downpatrick, have also announced that their festivities will not go ahead.
Asked by The Irish Times if the health authorities in the North had any current plans to recommend the cancellation of other mass gatherings, Dr McBride said they did not.
“That would not be my advice,” he said.
The North’s First and Deputy First Ministers, Arlene Foster and Michelle O’Neill, have cancelled their St Patrick’s Day trip to the United States.
They said they would stay in Northern Ireland to focus on efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19.
