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Updated 21 minutes ago
Deputy Marketing Director Dr. Ronan Glynn has apologized to anyone “frustrated or angry” for a viral clip of comments he made last night, urging people to see the entirety of his message.
Glynn spoke at a press conference tonight in which NPHET gave the green light for the resumption of the Oxford / AstraZenca vaccine in this country.
Speaking at a separate briefing last night, Glynn had said that he was asking people to do “a little bit more of what you guys have been doing in the last few weeks” and to stick with the measures in the weeks ahead.
“If each individual can do a little bit more over the next few weeks, we will stop another wave,” said Dr. Glynn.
The 30 second clip of those comments, shared by RTÉ News and seen more than half a million times – was heavily criticized on social media today.
When asked about the reaction to the comments, Glynn said tonight that the broader message from NPHET was one of appreciation for the efforts people have been making.
“The first thing I’d like to say is that I absolutely apologize to anyone who is feeling frustrated or angry or frankly at the end of the rope when they see that clip from last night’s press conference,” he said.
Equally, I would ask anyone who sits like that to watch the entirety of the press conference last night. The theme of the press conference was NPHET’s appreciation of the millions of people who complied with public health measures on St. Patrick’s Day.
“We have looked over and over again over the last year to acknowledge the weariness, the frustration, the weariness that people are feeling with these measures. We know how difficult it is for the people of this country, we do not make our recommendations lightly, ”he said.
Unfortunately, the reality for us sitting at this table is that no one wants to hear our message, we know that. We constantly come here and ask people to do what we know is difficult, what we know they are fed up and tired of listening to. We are exhausted, if we are exhausted from listening to ourselves speak, I cannot imagine how unhappy and exhausted the population is to listen to us.
Glynn has repeated on several occasions in recent weeks that he is aware that people are fed up with the restrictions, but that the level of illness in the country remains at too high a level today before they can be significantly alleviated.
“I specifically said last night that I didn’t want to talk about restrictions because I knew I would be a headline today and that headline is very demoralizing for people who are trying to do the right thing. So I asked people, all parts of society, to heed the key messages over the next few weeks, which is that there is hope, eight out of 10 people will have received the vaccine by the end of June. We can all collectively look forward to much brighter days, we can look back with pride at what we did as a society. “
Stagnant
Glynn’s comments on the need for continued adherence to public health messages come as the decline in cases has stalled in recent weeks.
NPHET Professor Philip Nolan has said that a small increase in people’s contacts and mobility partly explains this change.
In a tweet this afternoon, the chairman of Ireland’s Epidemiological Modeling Advisory Group said it was important for NPHET members to highlight the situation even if it is “unpopular” to do so.
At last night’s NPHET briefing, public health figures highlighted how Ireland had made steady progress during January and February in decreasing the incidence of Covid-19 by meeting Tier 5 restrictions.
However, daily new cases have begun to stabilize, averaging 500 cases per day.
Professor Nolan said this was due to increased mobility (more people attending work) and an increase in the number of contacts people were having.
It is difficult, even unpopular, to ask that we do more. We did a lot to go from> 6000 cases per day to <600. A small increase in mobility and contact has stalled our progress. We need to highlight this, and yes, encourage each other to do a little more to suppress the virus. pic.twitter.com/fYMTkCDY9H
– Professor Philip Nolan (@President_MU) March 19, 2021
Taoiseach Micheál Martin echoed the complaints about tired messages today, who said the government “gets it” and understands that the people are “fed up.”
His comments came as doubts were raised about whether the 5km travel restriction will be eased next month amid concerns from some in Cabinet about the country’s progress and the stagnation of the number of cases.
In his own tweet today, Professor Nolan shared some graphs showing how cases have stalled in recent weeks.
“It is difficult, even unpopular, to ask that we do more,” he said. “We did a lot to go from> 6000 cases per day to <600. A small increase in mobility and contact has stalled our progress. We need to highlight this, and yes, encourage each other to do a little more to suppress the virus. "
Gardaí Figures
Professor Nolan’s comments come as the latest gardaí figures show that more than 15,000 fines have been issued to people violating Covid-19 health regulations.
In their latest statistics release, they said 15,358 is the total number of tickets issued. The vast majority of them, 11,072, for non-essential trips.
The tickets for the organization of a house party were € 466,500 and € 1,842,150 for attending the event were delivered by gardaí.
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In total, 1,011 fines of € 500 have been charged for non-essential trips to airports or ports and 269 fines of € 80 each for not wearing a face cover.
The Gardaí has also issued 262 fines of € 100 for non-essential travel by people who “are not habitual residents of the State.”
An Garda Síochána said nationwide checkpoints and high-visibility patrols in public services, parks and beauty spots across the country will continue this weekend in support of public health regulations.
They also warned that cars illegally parked at service sites could be towed by gardaí on patrol.
A garda statement also sought to reassure victims of sexual or domestic abuse that there are no travel restrictions when seeking help.
Anne Marie McMahon, Deputy Commissioner for Police and Security, said the force appreciates the efforts of those who comply with the restrictions.
“The best way to stay safe this weekend is to stay home. If you are going out, stay within 5 km, limit your contacts with other people, maintain social distancing and wash your hands regularly, ”he said.
With reporting by Niall O’Connor and Rónán Duffy
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