Coronavirus: New SF MLA ‘should direct her advice against spreading Covid-19 to her own party ranks’

Jim Wells, the only unionist representing South Down in the Assembly, said that fellow South Down MLA Emma Rogan should instead direct her call for vigilance over the virus to those within her own republican ranks.

Mr Wells was speaking after Ms Rogan (who gave her maiden speech in the Assembly this week) had pasted the following message on Facebook, amid rumours of a localised outbreak in the Ballynahinch/Crossgar region.

Ms Rogan formally replaced Chris Hazzard as South Down MLA in 2017 – but that was during the period when Stormont was in limbo due to Martin McGuinness walking out of government.

She had said this week: “This highlights the need for people to continue to follow the guidelines and practise social distancing and hand hygiene in order to keep people safe.

“We are not out of the woods yet and we all need to be responsible.”

Mr Wells noted that her colleague, South Down MP Chris Hazzard, was among those pictured at the colossal funeral gathering for Bobby Storey last Tuesday – a gathering which unleashed a storm of criticism over its sheer size.

Mr Wells told the News Letter: “My immediate thought is that I presume Ms Rogan has the phone number of her MP Chris Hazzard.

“So maybe she’d want to ring him and ask him – given what she said, which is obviously correct – how does he then justify his decision?

“Ms Rogan should basically be asking her MP and her leadership: what were they playing at?”

His points were put to Sinn Fein, which responded with a statement as follows:

“Sinn Fein elected representatives in South Down quite rightly encouraged people to act responsibly and follow the public health guidelines following reports of a Covid-19 outbreak in the area.

“This was the responsible thing to do.

“Maverick MLA Jim Wells on the other hand is instead trying to score cheap political points by attacking his political opponents, showing little or no regard for the people of South Down, rather than working collectively to keep the entire community safe in the face of a potential outbreak of coronavirus.

“Sinn Fein representatives at all levels will continue to work to prioritise public safety as we fight back against this pandemic.”

When it comes to the rumours of a localised outbreak, the Public Health Agency (PHA) told the News Letter: “Since Monday, May 18 the PHA’s Contact Tracing Service has been following up all positive Covid-19 cases and their close contacts across Northern Ireland on a daily basis.

“We are aware of current media speculation regarding an alleged cluster in Newry, Mourne and Down area.

“The Contact Tracing process will identify any potential links between positive cases both within and outside households.

“We have not identified any current clusters other than household related infections in the Newry, Mourne and Down area.

“With some ongoing community transmission of Covid-19, it is expected that there will be variation in the number of cases detected across geographical areas, and with small numbers of cases, we must be cautious about the significance of these variations.

“If anyone is concerned that they may have Covid-19, we would encourage them to get tested.

“We must be aware that Covid-19 is still a threat and we need everyone to play their part in helping to stop the virus spreading.”

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