Dr Mary Favier, the Covid-19 advisor to the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) said the death toll was now, “starting to climb.”
Speaking on this morning she said:
“Deaths tend to follow four to six weeks after the rise in rates so unfortunately, it is coming.
“For us as GPs, we know our hospital services are under strain already. We know we have people on trolleys; we know the ED departments are busy.
"GPs are exceptionally busy. We didn’t get the summer lull we usually get so we are in a vulnerable situation in Ireland and because our health services have been under-resourced for so long, we need to protect them."
The GP said the 28 deaths recorded in September was the highest since the first wave and noted that there were 10 in the last week alone.
Dr Favier said the situation is now “starting to get the feel” of the first wave in March and April.
Last week alone, GPs referred 56,000 people for testing. 56,000 people must have rang their GP, at a minimum because not all would have been sent for testing, and were referred on through services for testing and tracing.
She said the only way to combat the disease now is for all of us to change our behaviours.
“It is hard and we are all tired of it. People often feel, well I’ll wear a mask I am fine but you need to wear a mask and wash your hands. You need to wash your hands, wear a mask and keep your two metres distance.
She said while it is hard, as GPs and health professionals they just have to keep encouraging people to adhere to the public health guidelines.
