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The state’s public health emergency team has warned the Government that the profile of the coronavirus in Dublin is at an “extremely critical juncture”.
In recommending tougher restrictions to slow the spread of the virus in the county, Acting Medical Director Dr. Ronan Glynn told the government that there were no more opportunities to control the disease in Dublin without further action.
Dr. Glynn informed the Government by letter that the National Public Health Emergency Team believes that “the window of opportunity to control the disease in the county without significant additional measures is no longer available.”
He said NPHET considered a number of alternative additional restrictions to avoid restricting indoor dining at restaurants and gourmet pubs, including group limitations, reduced capacity and earlier closing times.
“However, given the seriousness of the epidemiological situation in Dublin, NPHET concluded that, in general, it was necessary to apply measures to the limit of the options available in Level 3, which is not to allow more indoor dining,” he said.
‘Out of control’
Earlier on Friday, the chairman of the NPHET epidemiological modeling advisory group, Professor Philip Nolan, said that bars, restaurants, gyms and homes are contributing to the spread of the coronavirus in Dublin and unless we stop people who Mix in these environments, it will get out of control. ”.
In a series of tweets, Professor Nolan explained NPHET’s decision to recommend that indoor dining be banned and that pubs that do not serve food should remain closed, saying: “We know that in Dublin at least one in three cases is from community spread. Where is this happening? Wherever we mix socially: our homes, gyms, bars, restaurants. Unfortunately, unless we stop mixing in these settings, we know the disease will get out of control. “
NPHET met on Thursday and recommended that Dublin move to Level 3 of the Government’s Living with Covid strategy. They have also recommended that pubs and restaurants serving food will only be allowed to open in the capital if they have facilities for al fresco dining or take-out services. So-called ‘wet pubs’ that don’t serve food have already been told they will have to stay closed when similar venues open on September 21.
Cabinet is expected to approve the NPHET recommendations Friday at a meeting beginning at 2.30 pm.
Prof. Philip Nolan, Chairman of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modeling Advisory Group. Photography: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin
‘Hospitality lockdown’
The government was previously accused of making the hospitality industry “pay for the sins of others” and of being “on the verge of destroying” its own scheme, with restaurant owners noting that the spread of the virus in Dublin was in households . Adrian Cummins, Executive Director of the Restaurant Association of Ireland (RAI) said that “we are not the problem, the problem is in the homes.”
“This is effectively a hospitality lockdown,” Cummins told RTÉ Morning Ireland on Friday.
However, Professor Nolan tweeted: “It is reasonable to ask: why close restaurants and pubs if there are so few outbreaks associated with those settings? However, this is a misinterpretation and misinterpretation of the outbreak and cluster data.
“If I went out 5 days ago and contracted the virus in a restaurant, it will have multiplied silently within me for 3 days; then I will have started to spread the virus and potentially infect others, for 2 days; today I become symptomatic, isolate myself and take a test.
“Public health only asks me about my contacts during the 48 hours before I develop symptoms. They don’t need to know where I got the virus from; that happened 5 days ago. They want to know where the virus is going, who it might have infected, and prevent transmission.
It’s reasonable to ask: why close restaurants and pubs if there are so few outbreaks associated with those settings? However, this is a misinterpretation and misinterpretation of the outbreak and cluster data. 1/10 pic.twitter.com/REEUqoin12
– Professor Philip Nolan (@President_MU) September 18, 2020
“My contacts are tested and sadly, two of my family are infected. Now it is an outbreak in the home and I am a case of community transmission. Although I bought it at a restaurant and brought it home. “
He said there was no time or resources to track those cases and find out where people get the virus, but added: “We have a lot of international evidence from better-resourced systems on how the virus is transmitted – we know that social settings, including bars and restaurants , community transmission drive.
“We know that in Dublin at least one in three cases is community-transmitted. Where is this happening? Wherever we mix socially: our homes, gyms, bars, restaurants. Unfortunately, unless we stop mixing in these settings, we know the disease will get out of control. “
Priority to save lives
Meanwhile, the Minister of Media, Tourism, Art, Culture, Sport and Gaeltacht, Catherine Martin, said that the Government’s priority was to save lives, but that any measure that is adopted must achieve a balance and health must be what First.
The public health advice was that unless steps were taken to reduce the level of contacts, the number of cases and hospitalizations and even deaths would increase exponentially in the coming weeks, he told Newstalk Breakfast.
“We must prevent the virus from taking over this country, we must prioritize saving lives.”
The minister said she had great empathy for companies “that were already on their knees,” but that the health council was convincing, she said, and that is what the government would have to follow.
“If the experts say there is a danger with the people gathered, then we have to listen to the experts. The decisions we make now will ultimately save lives; that’s where we find ourselves now with this pandemic. “
Ms. Martin said that many of the sectors she represents were being “horribly impacted” by the pandemic and that if a decision was made on further restrictions, she would be seeking “strong financial support.”
Cummins said the restaurant industry was shocked by the restrictions and there had been no inquiries. “We had no indication of what the restrictions would be,” he said.
With winter approaching, the cookout proposal would mean nothing, he said, as the Irish hotel industry was not “ready” for such service.
“It’s about livelihoods. Businesses are now looking to banks for loans to repay, landlords looking for rent, and vendors looking to get paid. The industry is in crisis ”, he added.
“The government needs to take action and present an aid package if the restrictions come in tonight.”
Mr. Cummins said the hospitality industry wanted to do its part with regards to public health, but they felt the government was targeting the industry with the fewest cases.
“This will have huge ramifications for the industry,” he said.
Mr Cummins warned of job losses of between 30,000 and 50,000 in County Dublin, adding that “many small businesses will not recover.”
‘Pick and mix’
The Licensed Vintners Association (LVA), which represents innkeepers in Dublin, accused the government of taking a “pick and mix approach” in its Living with Covid strategy that “makes no sense.”
The LVA has indicated that Level 3 of the plan establishes that there will be “additional restrictions for indoor meals” for bars, cafes and restaurants, while Level 4 specifies “take out or home delivery” and “no indoor meals” .
It also states that ‘wet pubs’ can remain open on levels 2 and 3 (with additional restrictions). The government has already said that Dublin’s ‘wet pubs’ will not open with those in the rest of the country on Monday.
Donall O’Keeffe, executive director of the LVA, said that if the government proceeds with restrictions to limit pubs and restaurants in the capital to outdoor seating only, “they will effectively have destroyed their own plan within three days of its publication “.
“They said that this new plan was to provide certainty to the country and the companies. In the ad they said the country was on level 2, but they were placing Dublin’s non-food pubs on level 5 keeping them closed. Now it looks like they are about to move most of Dublin to Level 3, but pubs and restaurants will be moved to Level 4, ”said O’Keefe.
“Indeed, the Government and NPHET are taking a pick and mix approach to the new national strategy that renders it nonsensical. How is Irish society supposed to function if its own authors ignore the levels outlined in this plan in a matter of days?
O’Keefe said they are also seeking clarity from NPHET and the government as to why “they continue to take action against the hospitality sector when the latest HSPC data clearly shows that this is not where the problem lies.”
“There are no open buds in pubs. Compare that to the number of outbreaks in other workplaces or private homes, ”she added.
“However, it is the pubs and restaurants that have complied with regulations since the beginning of this crisis that are the focus of additional restrictions. On what basis does that approach make sense? They are doing their best to keep pubs closed by default.
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