A NEW Garda hotline set up to allow members of the public report alleged breaches of Covid-19 laws experienced a brisk volume of calls.
Figures released to Donegal Daily show that from Tuesday last, when the hotline was first established, until 12am on Friday, there were 37 phone calls made to the hotline.
An Garda Síochána say that ‘enquiries are ongoing’ in relation to 22 of the calls.
Fourteen calls were responded to with no breaches of Covid-19 guidelines detected.
A spokesperson from the Garda Press Office has confirmed that one hoax call was received.
In addition to the calls that have been investigated, Donegal Daily understands that the hotline has received a high level of calls from other counties and also from people conveying ‘conspiracy theory’ views regarding the Covid-19 pandemic.
The hotline was set up in response to the concerning levels of Covid-19 in certain areas of Donegal.
Garda Grainne Doherty said: “Anybody who becomes aware of a party or other event that is being organised or who knows that a party or other event is taking place should phone this number.
“The information they give will be treated with the strictest confidence and they will not be required to give their name if they do not wish to.
“Details provided will be checked out and if found to be correct appropriate action will be taken. If someone reports an event that is being planned we will do everything we can to stop the event happening.”
Last week, Milford and Letterkenny were listed among the top three worst affected areas for infection.
Milford is Ireland’s worst affected local electoral area, where the 14-day incidence rate was 682.6 per 100,000 up to Monday May 3. This was five times the national average. There were 94 cases in the area in the past two weeks.
Letterkenny had the third highest rate, at 547.1 per 100,000 and there were 163 new cases in the area in the past fortnight – a slight reduction on 177 cases in the previous period.
Since Gardaí were given powers to issue punishment to members of the public found in breach of public health measures, there have been 867 fines issues across County Donegal – with the latest figures showing a rise of 26 in the last week.
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