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The Health Services Executive (HSE) has sought to distance itself from comments made in The Irish Times by one of its top executives that Covid-19’s “draconian” restrictions were no longer justified.
Dr. Martin Feeley, clinical director of the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group, said that Covid-19 is “much less severe” than the average annual flu.
He suggested that people at low risk of contracting the virus should be exposed to it so that they can develop herd immunity and reduce the risk for vulnerable groups.
“That is what is happening and yet the policy seems to be to prevent it,” he told The Irish Times.
“This should have been allowed to happen during the summer months before the annual flu season, to reduce the workload on the health service during the winter months.”
He went on to say that any evaluation of Ireland’s strategy to combat the virus must take into account the cost to people’s quality of life, according to the former vascular surgeon, who said “youth cannot be postponed.”
“The financial cost can be seen in any walk or tour of cities, towns and villages. Mortgage repayments and other economic setbacks are practically all suffered by the young worker or entrepreneur and not by those over 65, who are guaranteed their pension, as in fact are the salaries of the people who decide to inflict these draconian measures ”, the 70-year-old told The Irish Times.
Dr. Feeley criticizes the media and public’s “obsession” with daily case numbers, when so few people are admitted to hospitals or intensive care units.
“The number of deaths among recent cases is less than one in a thousand. These data reflect a much less severe illness than the average annual flu.
“The reaction of the media to these cases, that is to say, with the appropriate severity to report deaths from a great catastrophe, borders on hysteria. Opening a newscast with the number of people who test positive for a less dangerous condition than the flu, which many do not even know they have, is alarming. “
In response, Dr. Colm Henry, HSE Clinical Director, said that “for the avoidance of any doubt, the position stated by Dr. Feeley in the Irish Times today is not the position of the HSE on this important issue.”
Dr. Henry emphasized that there have been 28 million cases and 900,000 deaths from Covid-19 since a global pandemic was declared on March 11.
Dr. Colm Henry, HSE Clinical Director. Photography: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin
He refuted Dr. Feeley’s suggestion that young people should be allowed to contract the disease to boost herd immunity.
This, suggested Dr. Henry, “has the power to overwhelm health systems and lead to large-scale disease and death, particularly in vulnerable populations.”
He said: “According to the WHO, the threshold for establishing herd immunity is not yet clear. The duration of post-infection immunity is also unknown. “The most effective way to protect older people and vulnerable groups is not to wait for them to protect themselves, but for everyone to adhere to public health advice, which will limit the transmission of the virus between people and households.” .
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