Three more people with Covid-19 die in NI amid calls for 'complete lockdown'

By Q Radio News

Three more people who tested positive for Covid-19 in Northern Ireland have died, bringing the total number of such deaths in the region to 13. 

The PHA has confirmed that 34 more people have tested positive for the virus, a total of 275.

It's understood one of the patients who died was being treated at the South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen.

It follows calls from leading GPs in Belfast for a "complete lockdown" to try and manage the pandemic. 

The doctors, who chair Belfast’s four GP Federations, say they are “dismayed at the actions of many members of the public”.

In an open letter to the community, they called on political leaders to adopt an immediate lockdown.

“Please hear and act on our heartfelt plea and move to adopt a ‘complete lockdown’ as we have seen in other countries, at the earliest opportunity. Time is of the essence,” it states. 

The group of experts said they were watching the alarming effects of the illness in other countries including Italy, Spain and China.

Dr George O’Neill, who is joint chair of the West Belfast GP Federation believes it's better to be "extremely cautious and wrong than wrong and incautious.” 

“The estimated time from exposure to null infectivity is estimated to be two-to-three weeks and it follows that if a ‘complete lockdown’ of the public was enacted, the virus could be, if not stopped in its tracks, at least significantly slowed up," he added. 

“Time is of the essence in this disease, with doubling of cases on average every five days if no measures are taken.

“We acknowledge the current advice government has given on social distancing but, in our view, this is not stringent enough.

“The fact that so many people can carry the virus with extremely limited effect to themselves means that whilst these individuals continue to move through the community, albeit in a limited fashion, they are still spreading the virus.

“Our concern is that in the next few weeks numbers will escalate significantly and anything which can be done to reduce the spread of the virus in Belfast communities, and indeed across Northern Ireland, should be adopted.”