Labour Party urges Taoiseach to take action on Covid-19 situation in NI

14-day incidence rates in Northern Ireland "alarming"

The Labor Party has raised serious concerns about the Covid-19 situation in Northern Ireland (NI) and urges Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, to encourage the NI executive to take action.

Labor manager and health spokesman Alan Kelly addressed the situation of Covid-19 in Northern Ireland yesterday (December 16) and spoke on Leader & # 39; s Questions.

Deputy Kelly spoke after 17 ambulances were forced to queue and treat patients with their engines running at all of Northern Ireland's hospitals.

“Instead of playing politics, trying to stand on both sides of many arguments, arguing, shaking, we may now have reached a point where our government in this jurisdiction must be very clear that the capacity of the executive and the In the way that you are dealing with this crisis, it is not working and it is having major ramifications for the rest of us on this island.

“If you look at the infection rate in Northern Ireland, it is four times that of the south. When you look at the numbers, the difference in the rate of infection is alarming.

"In Counties Cork and Kerry we have a fortnightly incident rate of 25 and 30. In Northern Ireland, local districts of Antrim, Newtownabbey, Mid and East Antrim, Causeway Coast, Glen & # 39; s and Mid-Ulster also have a 14-day incidence rate of 300 for the past few days, and Mid and East Antrim have over 500. "

He claimed the people of the north had been abandoned, affecting our border areas and beyond.

Deputy Kelly added that the 14-day incidence rate in Donegal at 225 was the highest in the state and in Louth at 175 the incidence rate was and Cavan / Monaghan were both over 100.

Finally, he said we need to have a plan to ensure that once vaccination has started, we have a coordinated approach in both countries to ensure a uniform introduction and especially to help these border areas.