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Some restrictions on movement in Ireland could be lifted in a couple of weeks, said a health services adviser.
Cillian De Gascun, chairman of HSE’s expert advisory group on Covid-19, said “real-time” testing and contact location systems would have to be in place before relaxation of the blockade could occur.
The death toll from coronavirus in Ireland rose to 263 on Thursday, with 28 more deaths reported. There have been 6,574 confirmed cases in Ireland.
The National Public Health Emergency Team will make a recommendation to the Government on Friday whether or not to extend the strict restriction on movement beyond Easter Sunday, when the initial period expires.
The restrictions are expected to remain in effect. Currently, people are only allowed to leave their homes in a limited set of circumstances.
Dr. De Gascun, director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, indicated that some relaxation may be possible in several weeks, but the consulting virologist warned that the measures could be reintroduced if the number of cases begins to increase.
His comments come amid evidence that social distancing rules have helped to significantly reduce the infection rate in Ireland.
“We have come a long way, but we have to do better before thinking that we can realistically lift those restrictions,” Dr. De Gascun told RTE Radio One.
“However, we are aware of the fact that the restrictions are very difficult for people and are not sustainable in the long term. So what we hope to do is to be able to lift them in the next two weeks, and then control the situation from the perspective of virus
“And then maybe the restrictions will increase again, if necessary, depending on the number of cases, depending on the number of people entering the hospital, the number of people entering intensive care.”
“Ultimately, what we have to try and do is control the impact on our health service.
“And if we come to a situation where, for example, we have 1,000 new cases per day, then that will overwhelm our intensive care system in a very short period of time.”
“I think that while people will find the restrictions difficult, I think you just have to look at other countries like Italy, like the United States, like Spain; this virus, if given a chance, can run rampant.
“It is really important to people that we cannot be complacent. Although we have had a very successful implementation of the measures so far, unfortunately there is still a long way to go.
“But … we would like to be able to lift the restrictions as soon as possible so that people can return to some level of normalcy.”
Dr. De Gascun said relaxation could involve allowing more movement outside the home and reopening some retail services.
“We are not going to go back to a normal state of affairs,” he said.
“Ultimately, what we want to do is protect the majority of people for as long as possible because, as you know, we still don’t have an effective antiviral against this agent or this virus, we still don’t have an effective vaccine.
“So really, we may try to lift as many restrictions as possible in the coming weeks, we may have to re-escalate again sometime in the future.”
“And there may be some form of restriction for a while yet, until we see exactly … until we can control the curve or the pandemic or the epidemic in the country.”
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