Ireland could face 5 years of restrictions as Tier 3 ‘is not good enough’ to address increasing cases, says professor

IRELAND could face up to five years of Covid-19 restrictions as Level 3 “is not good enough” to address escalating cases, said a prominent professor.

Professor Sam McConkey has said the country could face three to five years of restrictions similar to Level 3 without a better medium-term plan.

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Sam McConkey, an infectious disease specialist and director of the Department of International Health and Tropical Medicine and the RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, said cases are stabilizing in Dublin but continuing to rise elsewhere.

Speaking on Saturday’s show with RTE Radio 1’s Katie Hannon, she said: “Level 3 in Dublin is seeing a leveling out of cases in Dublin, but they keep increasing across the country. And my opinion is that staying where we are is not good enough.

“It is still causing an increase in the number of hospitalizations, ICUs and cases and deaths that we are seeing now. For 600 cases, we are now seeing five or six deaths, which is one in 100 or one in 200.”

LEVEL 3 YEARS

Professor McConkey said that if the country continues without a better Covid-19 plan, it could be facing a scenario of up to five years of restrictions similar to Level 3.

He said, “I don’t think going on like this for three or five years is a good idea.”

Professor McConkey explained: “This medium term strategy is not a sensible way and it is not going to get us out of this now, so we need a plan to get out of this. We need medium term strategic thinking about how we are going to deal with this.

“To continue like this, it’s like an ongoing purgatory.”

The infectious disease expert said Ireland can no longer rely on the assumption of a vaccine.

He said: “This idea of ​​a vaccine, we had politicians who told us that everything would be fixed for Christmas a few months ago, now they have suddenly become silent, no one is talking about a vaccine for Christmas now.”

“Now we are hearing how long it will take to implement, how long it will take to produce eight billion doses, the vaccine may not be permanently effective, it could be temporary and it could be partial.”

CIRCUIT BREAK RESTRICTIONS

Earlier this week, NPHET recommended that the country move to Level 5 restrictions in an effort to disrupt the rapid growth of the virus.

Instead, however, the Taoiseach announced that all counties would enter Level 3, which is much less restrictive than 5. This is the first time the Government has opposed NPHET’s advice.

Professor McConkey agreed that the “circuit breaker” that Level 5 would provide would be a way to get Ireland back where it was in June and July, when very low cases were recorded.

FINE COMPLIANCE

This week, the Cabinet Covid-19 subcommittee agreed to introduce fines to enforce Covid-19 restrictions, with talks of fines of € 50 for not wearing a mask and € 200 for leaving their county.

Speaking at the same RTE program, State Minister Hildegarde Naughton said the government should consider implementing fines.

She said: “I think there is a fear that we are reaching a stage now where there may be a minority of people who do not want to adhere to government regulations.”

“So I think we have to consider introducing these fines and make sure it is done in a proper and appropriate manner for an appropriate violation.

“We don’t want to do this, but for public health reasons in order to protect people we may have to do that, I’d rather we didn’t.”

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