Donegal Covid-19 hotline to be disbanded after just two weeks in operation

Gardaí in Donegal set up the hotline to allow people to report illegal parties or gatherings across the county, with birthday parties, beach parties, gatherings after funerals, and gatherings of secondary school students identified as areas of concern.

Now a meeting of the Joint Policing Committee in the county reportedly heard that the phone line could be coming to an end in the near future, the Irish Examiner reported on Sunday.

Gardaí told JOE.ie when asked for comment that they will "make enquires" in regards to the reported closure of the phone line. Last month, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said that even "the dogs on the street" could see there were examples of people not complying with the Covid-19 guidelines in the county. "It’s safe to say that if we had anything like the situation that pertains in Donegal pertaining to the rest of the country, we would not be recommending these measures. We are genuinely concerned about the situation," he said at a Department of Health press conference.

Kildare has since replaced Donegal as the county with the highest incidence rate of Covid-19 in the State, following a drop in the spread of the virus in Co Donegal over the last two weeks.

Donegal previously had a 14-day incidence rate of 300 per 100,000 people, close to double the national rate at the time.