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The government learned of medical director Tony Holohan’s concerns about the spread of Covid-19 ahead of the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) meeting on Sunday.
Monday, TánaisteLeo Varadkar criticized Dr. Holohan and Nphet said that the recommendation to move to Level 5 had not been “thought through” and there had been no “prior consultations” with the government.
Speaking on RTÉ Monday night, after the government announced that all counties would move to Level 3 starting at midnight Tuesday, Varadkar said the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) council to pass At Level 5 it had “landed on us” by surprise Sunday night.
However, Dr. Holohan confirmed late Wednesday that he had spoken with Health Minister Stephen Donnelly on Sunday morning prior to the meeting and had shared his concerns and those of the team members.
“We just discussed my concerns, the concerns that I shared with him about conversations that I had had with various members of Nphet over the previous 24 hours,” he said.
When asked if he had indicated that a change to Level 5 might be in the offing, he said that he would not anticipate the outcome of Nphet’s discussion “but he was very clear about the level of concern he would have, and there was.
Donnelly confirmed that Dr. Holohan spoke with him on Sunday about his concerns about the spread of Covid-19 and the need to increase the level of restrictions.
A Donnelly spokeswoman said: “The Minister and the CMO spoke before and after the Nphet meeting on Sunday. Before the meeting they discussed the deterioration of the epidemiological situation. After the Nphet meeting, the minister was informed for the first time that Nphet had recommended a move to Level 5.
“The Minister and Taoiseach communicated after both talks between the Minister and the CMO on Sunday.”
Subsequently, Mr. Martin spoke with Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and the two men discussed the situation.
But there was surprise in government circles at the revelation they knew about Nphet’s council on Sunday afternoon.
Both Varadkar and Martin criticized Nphet’s sudden decision, leaked Sunday night, at Monday’s cabinet meeting.
According to one minister, Mr. Martin and the government secretary general, Martin Fraser, the top government official who is part of the Cabinet, were “visibly angry” at the meeting.
While acknowledging that government leaders knew of Nphet’s advice before it leaked Sunday night, leading figures remain critical of Dr. Holohan, seeing the sudden revelation as a “trick to get us to make a decision.” , in the words of one senior source.
When asked about his opinion of Tánaiste Leo Varadkar’s criticism of Nphet for his recommendation to impose Level 5 restrictions, Dr. Holohan said that he had spoken with Varadkar on Tuesday night and that he had a “good lasting relationship” with the. “He understands and shares my analysis, in its entirety, and cares as much as I do.”
He said he is “absolutely satisfied” that the air has cleared between them. “The government has to make decisions on a variety of other factors that are outside of our area of expertise, but we still have serious work to do to conduct ongoing assessment of the disease,” he said.
“He and I had a very good discussion last night that went on for a considerable period of time. We discussed issues from the last few days, but we discussed and spent much more time discussing the disease and what we must do collectively to improve our collective capacity as a country to respond to it, “he said.
When asked if he had ever considered his position in the last few days, he said: “I am here for a long time, my skin is tough and I have been involved in many problems over the years. We wouldn’t be doing our job collectively if there weren’t cuts and push and debate and all that. None of this is personal and nothing detracts from my willingness to continue with the important work that I have. “
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