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There is a growing number of Covid-19 cases in the northwest of Ireland that appear to be of the Delta variant, according to two doctors based in the area on both sides of the Border. Dr Tom Black, who is based in Derry, told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland: “We are seeing a lot of sick children and younger people, not older people. Half the cases in Northern Ireland are the Delta variant, we expect that to rise to 75 per cent in the next couple of weeks.”
He said the number of cases in the Strabane and Derry area is three times higher than the rest of Northern Ireland.
Dr Black said the vaccination programme was holding up well and there were very few cases in people aged over 60 and very few hospitalisations.
However, he acknowledged that as general practitioners they were not certain that the cases they were seeing were of the Delta variant, but they were seeing more symptoms that were consistent with the Delta variant.
The North’s Public Health Agency said on Wednesday that as of the previous day there had been 612 confirmed or probable cases of the Delta variant in the North – more than twice the total the previous week.
Donegal
On the other side of the Border in Co Donegal, Dr Denis McCauley said they too were seeing an “upswing” in upper respiratory infections among children, but that because of ongoing problems caused by the cyberattack on the Health Service Executive, they did not have full details. People were going directly to testing centres rather than their GP which meant GPs did not know all the details, he said.
What happened in Derry was usually replicated in Donegal, he said, adding that more cases will be seen in Donegal as the number of cases in Northern Ireland goes up.
Dr Black said pop-up clinics had been established around Derry to address “the gaps” among those aged 40 to 60 who had not been vaccinated. People under 40 who contracted the virus did not become very ill, he said.
Dr McCauley said he was cautious about the easing of restrictions for indoor facilities and warned that if the modelling indicated that there would be a surge in numbers then the Government would have to “be brave” and make the tough decision to defer.