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There will be no return to normal once the coronavirus restrictions are lifted, the health minister said, as he rejected the idea of an immunity passport to allow people to return to work.
It occurs when the current restrictions on movement, which expire on Easter Sunday, extend until May 5.
These include closing non-essential businesses and everyone who is asked to stay home whenever possible.
Speaking today at the Department of Health, Simon Harris said Ireland is “at a delicate and critical point.”
Irish economists suggested this week that young, healthy workers should return to the workforce.
Harris said: “It would be great if any country could get to a point where we can analyze the virus and see if we have immunity.”
“The truthful answer is that we have not found a reliable test to verify if anyone has had the coronavirus.”
“We don’t know how many of us in this country or in any other country in the world could have contracted this virus.”
“It could have been very slight or you could have had it and you didn’t realize it. I think we will see many developments in that space.”
“What I want to say to economists is that this is a public health emergency. The way we will return as a country and an economy is by dealing with the public health crisis.”
“If you want our economy to come back, we must allow the virus to be removed as quickly as possible.”
“The difficulty for everyone in this country is that we will not return to normal life in May.
“It is going to be a new normal. I don’t want to worry or bother people, but we have to work as people to get to a better place.”
“I am concerned about restrictions on people’s mental health. It is not normal that you cannot go out or that you cannot visit your family on Easter Sunday.”
“These are abnormal things that we ask people to do and it sucks and it’s challenging.”
(Image: Gareth Chaney / Collins)
The number of Covid-19 cases in the Republic has been updated by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET).
They originally said there were a total of 7,054 confirmed cases as of Friday, but that number was later revised to 8,089 cases, after some 14,000 samples were returned from laboratories in Germany.
Of the samples that were sent to Germany, 1,035 were positive for the virus.
Harris said he expected the accumulation of evidence to be cleared next week.
He said that Ireland has more testing capacity than most other EU countries and that the test per head of population is the fifth highest in the EU.
“Between 25,000 and 35,000 tests have been sent to Germany. We have hope and expectation that any accumulated delay will be removed next week.”
Harris said 1,500 nursing students signed up for medical assistance from the health service during the coronavirus emergency.
He also said that Ireland has more proof capacity than most other EU countries.
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