A mum whose daughter is in self-isolation after coming into contact with the infected schoolboy has told of the strict regime she must follow.
Identified only as Deirdre, she said: “She has to use her own towel, use her own soap. She’d be mostly eating in her bedroom now.
“We try to avoid her coming down but if she does, her utensils must be washed and [we] wash counters she touched or breathed on.
“She has a cough but they’re not too worried unless you have the three main symptoms of dry cough, fever and breathlessness.”
Speaking of the meeting for parents of school pupils, she said that the atmosphere was “tense”.
“There was a lot of concern, there was a lot of questions. It was a long meeting.
“There was a panel of experts there to help answer questions. There was a lot of frustration. There was a lot of ‘nobody really knows’.
“There was some anger. There was anger that the school [name] had been leaked before the parents were informed.
“There was anger about contradictory advice. Parents were told to continue going to work, other siblings were told to continue going to school. People had been sent home from work, made to go home from work.”
Speaking to RTE 1’s Liveline, she also blasted the HSE over its mixed messages and said the service needs to be more transparent.
She said: “If [the HSE] don’t know enough, just tell us that, and then we can decide to take extra precautions if needs be, if you have a vulnerable member in your household or anything like that.
“Just a bit more honesty, a bit more concise information and recommendations for everyone.”
Her daughter has to stay at home for 14 days for the symptoms to show up.
She added that HSE said they would call parents every day to monitor the situation but she hasn’t heard anything yet.
