Simon Harris gets testy while being asked repeatedly why he won’t stop flights

Simon Harris was asked on the Pat Kenny Show why Ireland was still welcoming flights from abroad when we are hearing about people who were infected after flying home from Cheltenham and presumably picked it up there.

Harris explained that he understood why we might want to focus on people coming into Ireland but he wanted to make people aware that there was "awful lot of the virus in our own country" and you're most likely to pick up the virus in your own home from your own family".

On March 10th of this year, 100% of the 34 known cases of covid-19 in Ireland were travel related.

Eight days later, on the 18th of March, 50% of the 438 known cases of covid-19 in Ireland were travel related.

Nine days later on the 27th of March, 27% of the 2,121 known cases of covid-19 in Ireland were travel related.

Harris went on to say that "we're actually at the stage of the virus where it's down to us."

Broadcast: The Pat Kenny Show | Newstalk | 27 Mar 2020