Proactive measures to combat the potential spread of the Coronavirus need to be implemented, according to independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice. <\/span><\/p>\n

The representative for the Roscommon-Galway constituency believes that the acting Government needs to step up its response to the Covid-19 outbreak. <\/span><\/p>\n

He also believes that the HSE needs to be more definitive on the instructions being issued to concerned people and organisations. <\/span><\/p>\n

Commenting on the matter, Fitzmaurice said: \u201cFirst and foremost, flights from zones where the virus is rampant need to be grounded in the short-term. As it stands, a person could book a direct flight from Milan to Dublin for tomorrow for as little as \u20ac50.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is also important that travel restrictions are placed on anyone who currently lives in one of these red zones or who has travelled through one of these zones recently. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to get serious about preventing the virus from spreading, and if that means we have to stop some people from entering the country \u2013 then so be it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCommon sense must prevail in all of this as well. I welcome the decisions made today to call off St Patrick\u2019s Day parades. These would have been hotbeds for the spread of the virus, especially in large cities like Dublin and Cork.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Cabinet sub-committee dealing with the coronavirus, which met today, need to implement further stringent protocols. We need to be proactive in ensuring that this virus does not become rampant.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Fitzmaurice directed some criticism at the HSE for its handling of the situation. <\/span><\/p>\n

Continuing, he added: \u201cWe are hearing of situations where schools requested guidance from the HSE regarding concerns that school staff may have been in contact with someone who had contracted Covid-19. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey reportedly asked whether or not it was best practice for them to close their doors to students for a two-week period. But it is alleged that the response from the HSE was far too broad and left this important call up to school personnel. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith all due respect, it is health care professionals that need to be calling the shots here. They must take a hard-line approach to tackling this outbreak and minimising the opportunities for it to spread. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe second of Ireland\u2019s Six Nations matches has reportedly been postponed and St Patrick\u2019s Day parades have been cancelled. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut if these measures save a single life then they will have been worth it. Sporting or cultural events \u2013 or any large gatherings for that matter \u2013 can be postponed and rearranged, a person\u2019s life is much more important. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOver 110,000 cases of the virus have been detected right around the world, with 21 of these located in the Republic of Ireland. The overall death toll for the virus is just shy of 4,000 people. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to heed the advice of healthcare professionals and be weary of our personal hygiene. This is particularly important for people who are in regular contact with vulnerable people, such as the elderly or people whose immune systems aren\u2019t 100%. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that visiting restrictions are now in place across a number of hospitals and nursing homes is another welcome move. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing proactive in addressing this outbreak must be the priority, otherwise it could snowball into a major problem and cripple the health service even further,\u201d Fitzmaurice concluded.<\/span><\/p>\n

Michael Fitzmaurice TD 086-1914565<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Proactive measures to combat the potential spread of the Coronavirus need to be implemented, according to independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice. The representative for the Roscommon-Galway constituency believes that the acting…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[177],"class_list":{"0":"post-3276","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-press-releases","7":"tag-coronavirus"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelfitzmaurice.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelfitzmaurice.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelfitzmaurice.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelfitzmaurice.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelfitzmaurice.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3276"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/michaelfitzmaurice.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3277,"href":"https:\/\/michaelfitzmaurice.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3276\/revisions\/3277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelfitzmaurice.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelfitzmaurice.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelfitzmaurice.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}