Public Notice / Press Release – March 22nd 2021

Offaly County Council would like to acknowledge the enormous effort that the entire County has put into driving down the rate of Covid infection. We have successfully reduced the pressure on our health service, and we are moving in the right direction, but we are at a crossroads. Infection rates remain relatively high in Offaly.

We must also keep in mind that the variant of the virus which is now the most prevalent in the county is significantly more transmissible than the previous strain. The fact that we are making such steady progress is a testament to the effort you are making. However, we must make sure that we don’t experience a further surge of the virus before the benefits of the vaccine can be experienced. We don’t ever want to return to the scenes we had in January, the pressure on our health service and the very sad outcomes for many families.

It has not been easy but we are getting there. Ireland is continuing to make good progress and are seeing all the key indicators of disease fall. The emerging data on vaccines is really promising. We are seeing gradual and careful progress towards re-opening our society.

In Offaly, our best protection against this disease remains the trusted public health tools that we have been using effectively since last Spring. We know what works, we know how to do it and we know we can do it well. Maintain a social distance at all times, wear a face covering, do not mix with other households other than for essential reasons, wash your hands. Stay at home and stay safe.

Offaly County Council advises that its service provision continues across all essential services.  We continue to support service users while taking mitigating actions to keep the public and our employees safe. Services continue to be provided on line, by post and over the phone. Details of these services are provided below and are available on our website www.offaly.ie.

Our dedicated staff in our Community Call Centre are on duty from 9am to 5pm 7 days a week so please call in strictest confidence FREEPHONE 1800 81 81 81 or email covidsupport@offalycoco.ie

#CommunityCall#Offaly

Thank you.

___________________                                                                         ______________________ 

John Carroll                                                      Anna Marie Delaney

Cathaoirleach                                                   Chief Executive

Offaly County Council                                       Offaly County Council