Young Cavan doctor answers Ireland's Call

A young Cavan doctor is among healthcare workers returning to Ireland to fight on the frontline against Coronavirus, writes Thomas Lyons.

Aoife Page answered the ‘On Call for Ireland’ campaign launched by the Health Service Executive (HSE). She arrived home from Australia last week just before the government put the country into effective lockdown. Today Aoife is in quarantine in Dublin hoping that, once cleared, she can assist in the Irish battle against the spread of COVID-19.
“We heard about it on the news much the same as everyone else,” Aoife said of first becoming aware of the pandemic’s progress. “Ireland had cases before we had it in Australia. What happened in Italy accelerated the spread in Europe faster than other parts of the world.” The young doctor was just concluding her 18-month contract in Perth’s hospital. Her plans to travel were curtailed by the crisis: “I think a lot of us had planned already to finish up our jobs at the end of March. It just put a bit more urgency to the situation in getting home.” Aoife was one of the many Irish abroad who encountered difficulty returning home.

Flight cancellations and travel restrictions through countries that would normally act as connection hubs made the trip home that bit more precarious.

“We found it quite stressful,” admits Aoife. “There was a feeling that, if we did not get out, we would be stuck in Australia for a few months.”Irish citizens Down Under worked with the Department of Foreign Affairs on finding flights: “They really tried their best to organise something for us. I think 18 doctors came home on the flight last Wednesday, with 170 Irish citizens in total travelling on that flight.” 
The doctor is self-isolating with three friends who were also on the flight but so far have shown no symptoms. Aoife wants to get to work as quickly as possible: “We are quarantining at the moment and we will stay that way for as long as needed. 
If the HSE want to test us and get us working we would be very happy to comply with that. For the moment we are applying for jobs,” she explained.
Despite the health concerns, Aoife is eager to get to work: “It is scary seeing the images on the news, and what we see is a bit daunting, but we are ready for the challenge when the time comes. We just want to help and support our colleagues and obviously help to look after people as well.”