PEOPLE in the North of Ireland must take public health messages to heart, says Dr Gerry Waldron of the Public Health Agency.
Dr Waldron says it is “absolutely crucial” that everyone does their part to help curb the spread of infections.
Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle, he said: “People really do need to take the basic messages on board and I’m afraid some people aren’t taking it in.”
Dr Waldron urged people to not organise social gatherings in their homes and to refuse if they are invited by others.
“I know we can track a number of cases back to social gatherings,” Dr Waldron told the programme.
“If we can stick to that we really won’t need to have these stricter members [in Derry and Strabane Council Area] for much longer,” he said.
New restrictions were put in place last week in Derry and Strabane mostly affecting the hospitality industry.
On Sunday a further 231 case of Coronavirus were reported in the council area for the previous 24 hours.
Dr Waldron said hospital capacity in the North of Ireland “will become crucial over the next few weeks”.
He added predicting capacity was “very difficult” and depended on what else hospitals have to deal with.
The doctor said additional pressure on beds because of Covid patients would add to typical winter capacity problems.
“The last time – infection led to hospitalisations; led to intensive care admissions; led to deaths and there’s no reason to believe that won’t be the same pattern this time if it can’t be halted,” Dr Waldron said.
There are currently 137 inpatients with Covid-19 in hospitals here, 19 of whom are in intensive care.
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