A leading public health specialist has warned that regional departments of Public Health can no longer cope and that Covid-19 outbreaks are going to be missed. Dr Ann Dee, a consultant in Public Health Medicine, says the eight departments are now “throwing in the towel” and giving up on doing “proper” contact tracing. She added: “The regional public health system is as close to collapse as it has been than at any time before." "It won’t be long before we start seeing 1,300 cases every day.”The government has announced a multi-million recruitment package for each of the country’s eight regional Departments of Public Health. Another Public Health Specialist said they routinely work more than three to four full weeks without any time off.

Source: Irish Examiner October 06, 2020 18:11 UTC