[ad_1]
The Irish government has rejected a recommendation to return the country to a total lockdown in the first confrontation with health chiefs since the Covid outbreak began.
The surprise recommendation of the National Public Health Emergencies Team (NPHET) on Sunday night to impose the highest of the five possible levels of restrictions with immediate effect drew strong criticism from some of the country’s top politicians, including the former taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
While the growing spread of the virus is causing alarm and has led to partial closures in several counties, most of the country is still under Level 2 restrictions, which means fewer limits on social and economic activity.
The ministers faced opposition from politicians and business to what would have been the first major national blockade of the second wave of Europe.
On Monday night, the cabinet chose to move the country to level 3 from midnight on Tuesday. This implies the prohibition of visits to the houses by more than one household and not more than six people, restrictions on restaurants and pubs, most of which remain open, no outdoor events, no parties or events unless elite sports and weddings are restricted to 25 people. .
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that the key to discussions about the move to level 5 was to analyze the broader implications for the economy.
“What happens next is in our own hands,” Martin said in a televised speech, saying that some companies may not be able to recover from a disproportionate reimposition of tougher restrictions. “It’s about protecting lives and livelihoods.”
Varadkar, who is now the Deputy Prime Minister responsible for jobs, went further and told RTÉ on Monday night that the NPHET level 5 recommendation “had not been well thought out and no prior consultation had been made. ”.
He was also critical of how NPHET has acted, saying that “getting something on a Sunday night … without prior consultation” was not the right way to do things.
The decision will be debated in the Dáil on Tuesday and is expected to provoke clashes with the main opposition party, Sinn Féin, led by Mary Lou McDonald.
Varakdar said a move from level 2 to level 5 would have amounted to an “experiment” that was not attempted in other parts of Europe and that the body in charge of Irish hospitals disagreed with the chiefs’ capacity concerns. of health.
The Irish Times said the decision had meant that “the relationship between the government and NPHET has been fundamentally reestablished.”
When the consequences of the breakdown of the relationship with the medical chiefs began to affect, Government Minister Thomas Byrne said on RTE radio on Tuesday morning that going to level 5 would have created financial difficulties.
He said Varadkar has been “typically outspoken” but had “absolute confidence” in medical director Tony Holohan.
The Examiner’s political editor said Varadkar “had not only thrown Dr. Holohan under a bus, he had reversed him over and over again.”
Events in Ireland will be closely followed across Europe, where continued collaboration between the government and medical chiefs is critical to responding to a second wave of the pandemic.
The decision is a significant change for the Irish government, which has largely followed public health recommendations on the infection, and has enacted some of the EU’s toughest international travel restrictions.
It may leave the faltering coalition government, inaugurated in June, vulnerable to criticism if less stringent restrictions do not roll back the pandemic and cases continue to rise.
Under level 5 restrictions, people would have been asked to stay home except to exercise within three miles (5 km), and only essential retailers were allowed to stay open, generally similar to the initial lockdown of seven weeks, which was one of the longest taxes. in Europe.
All indoor restaurant dining is prohibited at Level 3, which has been enforced in the capital Dublin and North West County Donegal for the past two weeks. Pubs can serve a limited number of customers outdoors, with the exception of Dublin, where bars serving only drinks are still unable to reopen.
Those tougher local restrictions have kept the unemployment rate just below 15%.
While Ireland reported the highest number of daily cases since late April on Saturday and a similar number on Monday, its 14-day cumulative total of 104 cases per 100,000 is only the 14th highest infection rate among 31 European countries. monitored by the European Center for Disease Control.
But a health official who advised a shutdown said that with one of the lowest intensive care unit (ICU) capacities among advanced OECD economies, Ireland could run out of ICU beds in a month on the current trajectory. .
[ad_2]