“All the guidelines can only be as good as the people’s personal responsibility themselves.”
Sergeant James O’Donovan of Bandon Garda Station in Cork has warned against house parties as concerns over Covid-19 resurge in Ireland.
Speaking to Patricia Messinger on C103fm, O’Donovan said: “There’s house parties going on around the country and we’re appealing for people to take personal responsibility, whether that’s people that own the houses, parents, or people that are renting their houses, or the people attending the parties.
“We certainly don’t want to go back to last March and April with lockdown and restrictions, and please God that will never happen. But people have to take personal responsibility… All the guidelines can only be as good as the people’s personal responsibility themselves.”
He went on to appeal to people to think carefully about what they do with their weekend, and to those renting their houses to “think about who they’re renting them out to”.
O’Donovan also echoed National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) advice that hand-washing, face-masks and physical distancing remain key to keeping free of Covid.
The warning comes one day after the Irish government announced that it would be delaying Phase 4 of its reopening plan until 10 August.
The decision followed an increase in cases of Covid-19, as well as an increase in Ireland’s R0 number, which is now estimated to be between 1.2 and 1.8.
While gatherings of up to 50 people indoors are allowed at certain venues, gatherings at houses are limited to 10 people from no more than four different households.
On Thursday, CEO of the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland (VFI), Padraig Cribben, said the government should consider prohibiting the sale of alcohol in supermarkets to curb house parties in the wake of the decision to delay the reopening of pubs in Ireland.
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