Irish Rural Link has called for the Health Service Executive (HSE) and Department of Health to issue a directive for community and voluntary organisations on Covid-19.
The national network which aims to represent the interests of rural communities – Irish Rural Link – has outlined “with the number of Covid-19 cases continuing to increase and expected to increase further over the next number of days and weeks, it would be helpful for community and voluntary groups – as well as charities – to have specific guidance on the continuation of their services during this outbreak.
Many of these organisations work with and provide essential services to people in the high-risk category – people over 65 and those with an underlying health condition.
Some Irish Rural Link members rely on volunteers to help deliver these services. However, many of these volunteers are also in the high-risk category group.
Irish Rural Link believes that guidelines from the HSE would help these organisations so they can have a plan in place and make alternative arrangements to deliver their service if any of their volunteers or indeed other staff members contract the virus.
We would also ask the public to call in on elderly neighbours or telephone them to ensure they are feeling well.
As many older people may not have access to the internet, Irish Rural Link has suggested that neighbours of elderly people print off the information about the virus and guidelines on protecting themselves.