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Variants of the coronavirus classified by public health officials as “concerning” are being detected in the state without a link to international travel.
The problem is noted in the minutes of a meeting of the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) last month, which says “complex contact tracing” of these cases was ongoing.
Dr. Cillian de Gascun, director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, expressed concern on Friday about the identification of variants of Covid-19 without a link to travel.
“We have the opportunity to try to control the importation of the other variants of interest,” he said. “Ideally, we would like to ensure that there are no transmission networks for these variants in the community that we are not aware of.”
Dr de Gascun said the “biggest concern” would be an undetected case of a variant in a care facility, workplace or school leading to a “super broadcast event.”
“The problem is that if we don’t contain it, it’s only a matter of time before it becomes an over-broadcast event,” he said, adding that one reason for setting up walk-in testing centers in some areas was to try to detect variants.
A public health source said that the inability to trace a travel link “suggests that we have some transmission within the community” and that perhaps “the submissions are from countries with which we have higher levels of travel link.”
To date, 32 cases of the South African B1351 variant, 12 of the P1 and 14 of P2 variants from Brazil, and 15 cases of the Nigerian B1525 variant have been detected.
‘Forensic’ trace
Figures released to the Social Democrats’ co-leader Róisín Shortall show that 1,524 passengers who arrived in Ireland in a two-week period last month had a travel history associated with one of the designated states.
Ms Shortall said the warnings in the broadcast showed the need to be “absolutely forensic” to track down cases where the origin is unknown.
Discussions continue this weekend over mandatory hotel quarantine after the government decided not to add the United States and some EU member states to its list of high-risk countries.
The Nphet minutes show that some members of the group continue to advocate for a broader approach that includes “the application of uniform quarantine measures to all countries.” However, the deputy chief medical officer, Dr. Ronan Glynn, said the group had to be “pragmatic” on the issue.
Officials are said to be considering increasing the number of hotel rooms available for quarantine as more countries are added to the list. Sources said adding more rooms through the existing contract or a new tender would be considered if necessary. A limit on arrivals is not currently being considered, but it would not be ruled out if necessary, although it is considered a last resort.
Masters and gardaí
Meanwhile, the government faces the prospect of labor relations disturbances over its decision to reorganize the vaccine prioritization list on the basis of age.
There have been discussions among teacher representatives on the possibility of submitting a joint motion to their annual conferences next week raising the possibility of industrial action. Under the proposals under consideration, unions would consider voting in favor of a strike if the government did not agree to vaccinate teachers at the end of the current term.
The Garda Representatives Association said that “a significant amount of surplus vaccines” had been made available to gardaí following an agreement reached in recent days, allowing members to take advantage of the remaining doses at the end of immunization sessions .
Gardaí is participating in a massive police operation over Easter weekend with the aim of dissuading people from traveling outside of their towns and gathering in groups. Health officials and politicians called on the public to follow Covid-19 guidelines amid concerns that further mixing could lead to an increase in infections. Eight more deaths of people with the disease and another 591 cases were reported on Friday.
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