Coronavirus: Londonderry funfair causes concern
- Published
The funfair ran at Ebrington for ten days last month
Concerns were raised that a funfair in Londonderry could lead to a localised spike of coronavirus cases, the city's Mayor has said.
The fair at the Ebrington site ran for 10 days from 11 September.
Derry's Mayor Brian Tierney said council warned NI's Executive Office, which owns the site, of the potential dangers of going ahead with the event.
The Executive Office said the fair was managed in line with guidance.
In a statement, the Executive Office said funfairs were permitted to operate under the regulations and that the fair was managed by the organiser in line with guidance.
The statement said no concerns were raised following visits by the PSNI, the Health and Safety Executive and Derry City and Strabane District Council's environmental health officer who had visited the funfair at the department's request.
"The Executive Office ensured that the organiser fulfilled its responsibilities to carry out a risk assessment and put all necessary mitigations in place to keep people safe in line with the public health advice.
"The council did not submit any objections to the department regarding the funfair."
Mr Tierney said the council made representations to the Executive Office and "made concerns very, very clear around the dangers we could see because of a funfair in the middle of a global pandemic".
He said council's public health messaging was to "make sure we are doing all we can to limit the social interactions people have".
Mr Tierney said he was not aware if the fair had any impact on the recent surge in cases in the north west.
At some point, he said, "it is important we do some sort of investigation".
Mr Tierney said there "was no reason within the regulations that were previously addressed by the Executive to state that a funfair couldn't take place".
The company that ran the funfair, Cullens Amusements, said it would be "inappropriate to comment about the concerns raised until we have spoken to the Executive Office".
In a statement, Sean Cullen said Derry and Strabane District Council had not raise an official objection to the fair with them.
"We are open and transparent with all procedures and welcome any discussions or enquiries with the relevant bodies including Derry and Strabane District Council," he said.
Funfairs have been allowed to operate in Northern Ireland post lockdown since 29 July, with a range of public health measures in place., external
Ebrington, a former military site, is owned by NI's Executive Office
NI's Chief Medical Officer Michael McBride told the BBC he had not been aware of the funfair.
"What I would say generally is that we've had regulations in place for some time, the regulations where people come together in gatherings outdoors, that those individual events are risk-assessed and there are requirements of the organisers of those events to have mitigations in place to prevent transmission," he said.
Dr McBride added: "I can only assume that that was applied in this case but I just don't know the details."
There has been a sharp rise of confirmed cases over recent weeks in the north west.
A further 201 cases were reported in the council area by the Department of Health, external on Friday.
Of the 1,283 cases in the Derry and Strabane council area since March, 801 were confirmed in the month of September.
New restrictions to curb the spread of the virus in Derry and Strabane come into force on Monday after a surge in the number of cases in the region.
The measures are expected to be in place for at least two weeks.
Derry and Strabane has an infection rate of 422 per 100,000 in the last seven days, according to Department of Health figures.
That is among the UK's highest rates.
The restrictions mean pubs, cafes, restaurants and hotels will only be allowed to open for takeaway, delivery and outdoor dining.
Residents are being asked to work from home if possible and only make essential journeys.
President of Londonderry Chamber of Commerce Redmond McFadden said businesses impacted by her restrictions need clarity on what financial support will be made available.
"The Executive must put in place support measures to allow businesses here a fighting chance.
"Otherwise it will be lights out for many of them and the possibility of thousands of redundancies in a region that has one of the highest unemployment rates in the UK," he said.
Health Minister Robin Swann told BBC Radio Foyle further measures could not be ruled out if the number of cases do not fall.
He said that includes so-called two week "circuit breaker" lockdown.
NI's Chief Scientific Adviser Prof Ian Young said it would be "sensible to plan for the possibility of one or more periods of circuit break over the course of this winter".
He said "a difficult six months" now lies ahead.
'Not part of the plan'
Meanwhile Dr Tom Black, the chair of the British Medical Association (BMA) in NI said GPs in the north west are now "overwhelmed" with the rise in Covid-19 cases.
The Derry GP also said the city's Covid-19 centre is now at capacity following the recent spike.
"We are seeing as many people as we have places for. When it reaches capacity, patients above and beyond that have to go to casualty, that is not what you want, that is not part of the plan," he said.
Dr Black said based on the first wave, a proportion of those who are now sick will end up requiring ICU care.
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