[ad_1]
The government is facing a furious reaction from innkeepers and restaurants to the new regulations that require them to keep records of the meals ordered by customers and other details.
Both the Irish Restaurant Association and the Licensed Vintners Association have written to the Data Protection Commissioner seeking an opinion on the new requirements, while Fianna Fáil TD Marc MacSharry criticized what he described as “Stasi” guidelines.
In a message to his party members, Mr. McSharry called on the Taoiseach to revoke the “police state restrictions” that he described as “authoritarian”, “unnecessary” and “ridiculous”.
The new rules, which went into effect Thursday, will force restaurants and pubs that serve food to keep track of all meals ordered. They should be able to make the records available to a member of An Garda Síochána until 28 days after the meal.
Meanwhile, the government has been urged not to “stigmatize” people who contract Covid-19 by placing too much emphasis on “individual responsibility” to avoid the disease.
After months of public health warnings about personal behavior, such as hand washing and cough etiquette, public health experts have been told that a “different approach” to communications may be necessary.
The warning comes from the behavior change group, a subgroup of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET). Group members received the results of an ESRI study that revealed that even with severe Covid-19 symptoms, one in four people reported they were unlikely to call their GP right away.
“Less educated, younger and non-Irish men” were “less likely to call their GP with major Covid-19 symptoms.”
The view was also expressed that “too much focus on individual responsibility could be stigmatizing, that we must constantly remember that there is no shame in having Covid.”
The warning about the limits of current public health messages comes as new Health Department research has found that the public remains fearful of a second wave of the virus and nervous about the opening of the country. More than half (56 percent) of those surveyed said the government’s response was “appropriate” while 36 percent said it was insufficient.
Only 9 percent said government restrictions were too extreme. A third of those surveyed said the reopening was going too fast, while 44 percent said there should be more restrictions. The research was conducted by Amárach, a market research firm.
Pub reopening
High-level sources admitted that there were divisions in the government over the pace of the reopening of society, and especially over the question of how and when pubs that do not serve food, the so-called “wet pubs”, should be allowed to reopen.
On Wednesday, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar told Fine Gael TDs that those pubs should have a chance to reopen and show they can operate safely, but Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Health Minister Stephen Donnelly are understood to be more cautious.
Martin promised on Thursday that more guidelines for pubs that have yet to reopen will be released “shortly”. These guidelines “will imply conditions to protect the life and health of people.”
Public health experts also discussed aspects of the government’s proposed long-term plan on how Ireland will live alongside Covid-19 on Thursday, which is expected to be published on September 14. The first draft of that plan is expected to be distributed to ministers next week.
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan told Dáil that the plan was “as important, if not more important, in my opinion, than the budget.”
He said the government was studying trial arrangements that “could allow us to waive the 14-day travel restriction requirement” when someone enters the state.
Meanwhile, Culture Minister Catherine Martin and Donnelly will meet with sports organizations on Friday to organize major events. Sources have indicated that more fans could attend rugby, GAA and soccer matches if strict rules are established around the entrance and exit areas of stadiums. The meeting will also be attended by the Acting Medical Director, Dr. Ronan Glynn.
[ad_2]