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The Minister of Health has said that today is day one to flatten the curve a second time, but everyone understands the cost of moving to Level 5.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Stephen Donnelly said that this is a preventive strike and that while hospital services are fine, if we don’t move now, these services will suffer.
Donnelly said the exit from Level 5 in December could be “region by region” depending on a variety of factors.
He said that while mortality levels are lower than in the first wave, they are increasing and have doubled in the last two weeks.
Donnelly added that there is a delay in these cases and they are expected to increase again.
He said that protecting human health and safety, health services, educational services and jobs are the government’s priorities.
Asked what if we get to December and # COVID-19 cases still exceed 100 a day, @DonnellyStephen He says @morningireland “It depends on what the situation is,” and “the government will look at it closely, NPHET will look at it closely” and consider a number of factors. # COVID-19 pic.twitter.com/p0R9Irrf9S
– RTÉ News (@rtenews) October 22, 2020
Donnelly said it was incorrect to say that contact tracing had failed and in the last six weeks contact tracing teams have made 400% more calls than before.
He said that for a brief period last weekend there was a unique situation where demand exceeded supply and a one-time operational decision was made to reestablish the system.
He said hiring is stepping up and there are a lot more staff on site.
Donnelly said that there are currently 400 people employed and that there should be around 800 people employed in total in the next four weeks.
He said there were numerous ways the government could have been informed of the decision to reinstate contact tracing.
Donnelly said he has no problem apologizing to those who were asked to call their own close contacts, but that it was important to remember that we are in the midst of a global pandemic and things are not working normally.
Donnelly defended HSE’s testing and tracking system, saying the organization has been “working around the clock” and, despite mistakes, has established one of the highest testing regimes in the world, backed by a tracking application.
Donnelly said the HSE has increased testing to 122,000 tests per day and has been informed that contact tracing can now deal with 1,500 positive test cases per day.
He said “every time the HSE doesn’t exactly get it right, what happened over the weekend” with contact tracing.
Donnelly said that each and every country is struggling to make testing and tracking work properly.
He said he has written to the HSE to request a full report on the employment contracts offered to people being hired for the contact tracing regime, after concerns were raised about zero-hour contracts and delays in hiring of personal.
Donnelly said that a considerable number of people are applying for the positions and that there is clearly a demand for the jobs.
He said that the GDPR is an important factor in collecting contact tracing information and that it is necessary to ensure that people can interact with the system confidentially while protecting their privacy.
Under Level 5 measures, which went into effect at midnight, people are asked to stay home and exercise within 5 km of their home.
Non-essential retail and personal services will close, but schools and childcare will remain open.
As 1,167 other new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed yesterday, Medical Director Dr. Tony Holohan said that people’s individual behavior is the most effective defense against transmission of the virus.
The new cases were spread across all 26 counties, bringing the 14-day incidence rate for the country to 291.
Cavan has the highest rate in the country with more than 1,000 cases per 100,000 of the population.
In the last seven days, more than 112,000 Covid-19 tests have been carried out, yielding a positivity rate of 7.1%.
Level 5 measures will be in effect for six weeks, and Dr. Holohan said everyone should stay home, except for essential reasons, and follow public health advice.
In a tweet last night, the Taoiseach said: “As we think about the next six weeks of increased restrictions at Level 5, we just need to remember that we are doing this to protect our families and the most vulnerable in our communities.
“We will get over it and we will meet again.”
Gardaí has started what they say is a major high-visibility police operation to support new public health restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Read more:
Latest coronavirus headlines
At a glance: What does level 5 mean?
‘No one will be safe from this virus until we all are’
President Michael D Higgins has said that Covid-19 has had a profound impact on people’s lives and “many have lost loved ones, lost their livelihoods or seen their lives dramatically altered.”
Speaking in a video posted on Twitter, President Higgins said that people have had to rely on the solidarity of others and have realized that no one will be safe from the virus “until we all are.”
https://t.co/5HXjC9OQDM pic.twitter.com/FQkUcRoYDj
– President of Ireland (@PresidentIRL) October 22, 2020
He said the virus has also served as “a powerful reminder that crises do not affect everyone equally.”
The president said that “as with so many crises, including climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted the most vulnerable and marginalized.”
Testing and Tracing the Cornerstone of Virus Efforts – ECDC
The test and trace regime is the cornerstone of efforts to control the spread of Covid-19 and it is vital that it is working well, said an expert in emergency preparedness and response at the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
Dr Agoritsa Baka also said that the ECDC does not see the spread of the virus being driven by school settings, but that larger clusters have emerged in work settings where there are meetings and events indoors, such as factories, mines and businesses. .
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said the second wave was expected and his colleagues in the US report that the outbreaks among young people, which may have occurred in the summer, did not lead to too many hospitalizations.
However, he said, they suggest that the virus then gradually spreads through age ranges and progresses over 130 to 150 days to reach the elderly and the most vulnerable groups.
Dr. Baka said that between any wave people “want to get back to normal” and while it is really difficult, they must maintain their physical distance.
Meanwhile, the Vice President of Retail Excellence Ireland said it is vital that local SMEs and businesses make it easy for customers to get in touch and encourage them to shop locally.
Jean McCabe, owner of the Willow clothing store in Ennis, said there is a real appetite among the public to make sure they support their communities, but there are challenges across the board for businesses, because production has been so low in China.
He said that although he had plans to reduce the capacity of his store, he had not planned to close this close to Christmas.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, McCabe said “no one has killed Christmas yet” and that retailers will reopen before Christmas.
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