Mayor concerned over high coronavirus infection rate across North West
Infections in the neighbouring Donegal county are the highest across the Republic.
New figures out today show that there have been 20 more positive cases in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area.
The infection rate has also risen and now stands at 102.9 per 100,000 within the council boundary, the highest of any council area in the North of Ireland.
Mayor Brain Tierney has urged the people of “Derry, Strabane and Donegal to continue to give us your support by staying local, avoiding unnecessary journeys and visits to beauty spots outside of their local area”.
“We are very conscious that restrictions are being lifted at different stages on both sides of the border and the roll out of the vaccination programme are also at varying levels.
“So it is imperative that the public continue to follow the public health guidance by staying local and adhering to social distancing guidance,” he added.
Meanwhile, people in Donegal have been urged not to engage in many of the country’s post-lockdown freedoms because of the county’s high Covid-19 rate
The Republic’s Level Five restrictions are being eased from Monday, May 10.
But Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said people in Donegal “will continue to need to see themselves as having to protect themselves”.
It currently has the highest Covid-19 rate in the country.
In response, Gardai have set up a special hotline to allow the public to inform them about illegal parties or gatherings in the county.
The worst areas for the infections are Letterkenny and Milford, according to the latest data.
Donegal’s infection rate has been persistently higher than the rest of the country
People in Donegal, he added, need to understand there’s “much higher risk to them involved in some of these activities that are possible than there is to the rest of the population, as we move through May”.
He said they now “need to be vigilant, they need to be compliant as much as possible and they need to work really hard to try to turn that situation around”.
Last week the chief medical officer spoke about his concerns about the levels of non-compliance with Covid-19 restrictions in the county.
On Saturday, the chief medical officer and Irish health minster met with local politicians to discuss the infection rate.
As of Thursday, April 29, the 14-day incidence rate of Covid-19 per 100,000 people in Donegal was 293.4 while the rate for the country as a whole was less than half that at 127.3.
It has since emerged a pop-up test centre will open in Milford and a public health media campaign launched as part of measures to curb the rate of infection.
Community groups, including the GAA, will encourage young people to adhere to the public health guidance.
There has also been calls for a ramping up of the Covid-19 vaccination programme to curb a spike in infection rates.
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