Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has admitted that a “short and hard lockdown” known as a circuit break may be necessary to bring Covid-19 numbers down to manageable levels, but he has also said that it “breaks my heart” to think of a second lockdown.
In an article from today’s Sunday Independent, Varadkar also says that the coronavirus pandemic is already estimated to “cost us around € 10,000 each, that’s € 50 billion” and warns that a second lockdown could carry borrowing requirements. of the State at levels similar to those of the financial crisis. more than 10 years ago.
However, high-level government sources have told the Sunday Independent that it now seems increasingly possible that the country will be on lockdown within 10 days. A decision is expected to be made after Thursday’s meeting of Nphet, the state’s scientific and medical advisory body.
At that time, some experts close to the Government estimate that there could be between 1,500 and 2,000 cases of Covid a day, with around 40-50 patients in hospital intensive care units.
These figures are lower than when Ireland entered the lockdown in March and a repeat can still be avoided, but the trend is now said to be deeply troubling government figures at higher levels.
Yesterday 1,012 new cases and three more deaths were confirmed. As of 2:00 p.m. yesterday, there were 199 hospitalized Covid-19 patients, of which 31 are in intensive care beds.
There are also concerns about when and how the country will emerge from the blockade, and Mr Varadkar today raised a series of questions that need to be answered around the exit of a second blockade and says that he is “not so sure” that a break in circuit can “save Christmas”.
The Tánaiste said: “The problem is that when you are in total blocking it is difficult to get out. As we have already learned, reopening is much more difficult than blocking.”
Referring to his controversial appearance on RTÉ One last week, in which he outlined strong objections to a proposal by Nphet for the country to move immediately to the most severe Level 5 lockdown, Varadkar said he had made a point not to rule out the ‘ circuit break ‘proposed.
“This would represent a short, hard block to hit the virus back on the head and reduce the number of cases to a manageable level. Similar to a second block, but not as long.
“It may be necessary at some point. No other country in Europe has tried this. It would be an experiment, but it could work. In Israel it seems to be working.”
The Sunday Independent understands that the government will discuss the “circuit breaker” proposal at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Some believe that the current Level 3 restrictions are working in Dublin, but there is a view that Donegal might have to move to Level 4 this week.
A government source said that at the heart of the divide between Nphet and the government was the desire of officials to lock down the entire country in the face of the belief among ministers that local closures work.
“There does not seem to be an acknowledgment that Level 3 is working in Dublin. This is a real problem. It goes to the heart of the way we handle this in the next period,” the source said.
The executive director of the Health Service, Paul Reid, told the government that the country’s critical care capacity is on an amber alert. The HSE has designed a color-coded alert system: red means there is no activity other than Covid-related cases.
In a move reminiscent of the initial stages of the latest shutdown, health authorities are this week to relaunch their public campaign for the protection of frontline workers.
