Clusters more likely as Ireland begins to re-open but it wouldn't 'necessarily mean things are not working'

Dr Tony Holohan said it’ll be up to health authorities to interpret data and explain it the public if cases begin to rise again.

IT IS LIKELY we could see more clusters of Covid-19 within the general population as Ireland begins to re-open, but that won’t necessarily mean that public health measures aren’t working according to chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan.

“We are going to have outbreaks in, for example, workplace settings or maybe in time a school setting, or a club,” Dr Holohan told reporters at the daily Department of Health press briefing today.

“We have to be in a position to both identify that and to take action in relation to it.”

The chief medical officer was fielding questions just after confirming that – for the first time since 21 March – there were no new confirmed deaths from Covid-19 in Ireland. 

While recent weeks have seen the number of daily confirmed cases fall to double figures showing that the virus was being suppressed in the community, there remains the risk that the virus could spread further as people go back to work. 

Ireland entered Phase One of the roadmap to re-opening the economy last Monday. It won’t be known what effect that has had on the spread of Covid-19 until late this week at the earliest.

Dr Holohan was asked if there was a level of apprehension ahead of further data coming in about how the virus is spreading later this week.

“For us, it’s about caution rather than apprehension,” he said.

There are a number of measures that public health authorities will track, such as hospitalisation rates, the numbers in intensive care and the overall number of cases within the population.

Even if cases rise, it’ll be their responsibility to interpret the figures and explain to the public whether or not they’re a cause of concern. 

The chief medical officer said: “If there’s a significant change in the rate of infection, obviously that’s going to lead to concern on the part of the public.

“What we’ll have to do is try to interpret that and explain and advise. What we hope to be is in a position to – even if we see an increase in cases – it doesn’t necessarily mean things are not working.”

Dr Holohan said that even if there are clusters within a particular workplace or setting, the guidance and supports in place now means they’re now in a better position to attempt to mitigate the spread of the virus. 

#Open journalism No news is bad news Support The Journal
Your contributions will help us continue to deliver the stories that are important to you
Support us now

“One of the things that’s going to happen as we ease restrictions, and increase the amount of economic activity… we are going to see more clusters of this,” he said.

We are going to have outbreaks in, for example, workplace settings or maybe in time a school setting, or a club. We have to be in a position to both identify that and to take action in relation to it.

This is a highly transmissible virus. The fact that that might occur isn’t necessarily a sign that we haven’t succeeded in terms of applying our measures. I think we’d be much better positioned to deal with that than we might have been in February had that occurred in that way.

Dr Holohan added that the sheer act of beginning to re-open the country meant that the risk of spread had increased but it was being done so in as managed a way as possible in line with the best available public health advice.