Schools are safe general trends

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At tonight’s Covid-19 briefing by the National Public Health Emergency Team, several speakers outlined why they believe schools are relatively safe environments, while concern was raised about general trends in the virus.

These are some of the key takeaways from tonight’s briefing.

‘Little evidence of any improvement’

At the beginning of the briefing, Professor Philip Nolan, chair of NPHET’s Irish Epidemiological Modeling Advisory Group, gave a grim warning that trends have not been positive.

After his initial summary that the epidemic is getting worse rather than better in Ireland, Professor Nolan provided a detailed breakdown of trends, warning that we could see 2,500 cases a day by the end of the month if current infection rates continue.

Medical Director Dr. Tony Holohan said that transmission in the community is widespread and that all infections and contacts can no longer be traced.

Reduce discretionary contacts

The Medical Director reiterated the advice that people should reduce their socialization as much as possible.

Work from home

When asked about reports of employers trying to get more people to return to their workplaces, Dr. Holohan said that just as people must take responsibility for reducing their social interactions as much as possible, employers must take responsibility responsibility to facilitate their workers to do so.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ronan Glynn said they were hearing reports that many employees were still going to work despite experiencing Covid-19 symptoms.

He said that now more than ever it is unacceptable to go to work when you are sick.

Schools

HSE’s clinical director Dr. Colm Henry said there was a lot of anxiety when schools were reopening, but international evidence at the time suggested that communities were more likely to pose a risk to schools rather than the other way around.

This appears to have been confirmed here as well, with little evidence of progressive transmission of Covid-19 in schools and lower positivity rates in school communities than the general population.

Dr. Heny said that widespread community transmission appears to be a threat to schools, but schools are not a threat to communities.

Responding to a suggestion that schools could be a source of unexplained domestic outbreaks, Professor Nolan said it was highly unlikely.

Dr. Glynn noted that while there has been an increase in the number of cases in school-age children, the rate of increase in this group is less than in the general community.

‘Let them destroy the merchants’ criticized



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