[ad_1]
While the country was shaken by the Clifden golf dinner controversy, the battle against Covid-19 has not gone as well as it should.
The latest figures from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) show how badly Ireland is compared to most of our neighbors in the EU.
The UK was once Europe’s “bad boy” in fighting the virus, thanks to a faltering start, multiple U-turns and occasional injections of superfluous ideology. Meanwhile, Sweden was the continent’s “wayward child”, determined to go its own way by resisting the closure and closure of most schools and businesses.
Both countries suffered an unnecessarily high death toll and came under harsh criticism during the months of peak pandemic. Now, in their own way, they have managed to improve their game and the trends in terms of deaths and cases are generally positive.
Meanwhile, Ireland, which achieved one of the lowest incidences in Europe in mid-summer, is now struggling to contain new outbreaks. So much so that the latest ECDC figures show that our figures are higher than those of the UK and Sweden. (The death rate in Sweden is 60% higher than in Ireland).
The incidence of the virus in Ireland is also higher than in Italy, Germany, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Greece, Finland, Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Estonia, Iceland, Cyprus and Latvia.
Green list
These trends can change rapidly over time, but Ireland’s decision in July to implement a very short green list of countries, from which it is possible to travel without being quarantined, now seems like an act of arrogance.
The policy of throttling overseas travel, which has had a devastating impact on the sector, caused imported cases to drop to very low levels. Consequently, and unlike many EU states where returning tourists have generated surges, travel cannot be blamed for our second wave.
But if the trip wasn’t responsible, what was it?
Initially, it was the outbreaks in meat processing plants, as we know. This was the equivalent of lightning striking the same spot twice, given that these environments had suffered outbreaks in the spring.
There was nothing terribly wrong with the strange case that happened in the factories. But by the time someone realized what was happening, hundreds of employees had been infected and the broader spread of the virus in the community was well under way.
We still have no quick test alternatives or the promised test system refresh
This need not have happened. The testing capacity was under-utilized throughout the summer, so more extensive testing of workers in the meat processing sector could have been arranged.
And, once again, our contract testing and tracking system turned out to be flawed. Other countries that are currently experiencing surges are handling them better because, in general, they are conducting more testing and / or doing it faster.
Continuity
The new wave of infections was beginning when one government left and a new one arrived. Possibly, the continuity was broken as the new ministers struggled to learn his writings.
Outbreaks in meat plants are being controlled, but the problem has moved to other areas of life where people congregate. It is worrying that 30% of cases are attributed to community transmission, which means that the source of infection is unknown.
We still don’t have quick test alternatives, or the promised renewal of the test system, or even the government’s new framework to deal with the realities of Covid-19 over the next year.
Yesterday a private nursing home claimed that it could deliver rapid test results in 15 minutes and gold standard PCR test results in six hours, however parents are advised that they will have to wait up to 72 hours to obtain PCR results in school-age children, with entire families forced to isolate themselves during this period.
[ad_2]