Localised lockdowns can eliminate Covid-19, report says

Professor Anthony Staines of DCU is calling for a green zone strategy to eliminate Covid-19 in Ireland. Picture: Denis Minihane.

Imposing restrictions on a county-by-county basis could eliminate Covid-19 from Ireland completely.

That is according to a new report from UCC, DCU, and the New England Complex Systems Institute in Massachusetts, which calls for Ireland to adopt a 'Green Zone' strategy to deal with Covid-19.

While Ireland had been largely successful at containing the virus, there has been an increase in the number of new cases announced in recent weeks, leading to fears the virus is re-emerging.

The report says this 'second wave' of the virus could avoided with more rigorous and targeted lock downs.

A green zone strategy is based around categorising Covid-19 infection rates within sub-national or localised regions, such as counties and smaller city areas.

Red zones are defined as having active local infections, yellow zones border these red regions, and green zones are defined as having no new cases. 

The report says once red zones are identified, transmission of Covid-19 can be reduced through limiting non-essential business and travel, and the restrictions should not last "much longer than a month".

This approach also means healthcare resources can be targeted to certain areas to rapidly contain any additional local outbreaks. 

However, the report indicates that one obstacle to deploying a green zone strategy within a country is international travel. It warns that new cases can be imported via air travel and ports. 

Professor Anthony Staines, Chair of Health Systems Research at DCU's School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health, said a green zone strategy will help eliminate Covid-19 on the island. 

He also said it will enable Ireland to have the best opportunity to "open schools, bars, restaurants, instead of whack-a-mole outbreaks and lock downs" and reduce the "every day lack of safety."

"In the race against Covid-19, a zero-Covid strategy would have us a step ahead of the virus rather than being 10 steps behind." 

Other countries which have adopted a zero-Covid strategy include Scotland, and Northern Ireland has signalled an intention to do so as well. The report says this could open the door to cross-border and cross-country collaboration, where the Green Zone strategy serves as a foundation for a zero-Covid policy.