No room for ‘apartheid’ on Covid guidelines

Dr Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer, HSE, has said people need to "double up" on behaviour that can limit the spread of the virus. 

Six months into the Covid-19 pandemic, we have averted the worst possible scenario – thousands more deaths and an overwhelmed health service – yet we still face significant risks and challenges ahead as the virus continues to thrive in our homes.

Since the first case of Covid-19 was confirmed on February 29, close to 1,800 people have died, thousands have taken ill, and the country has moved from lockdown to a ‘new norm’ and now a concerning resurgence in viral spread.

The concern is such that the new Health Minister Stephen Donnelly didn’t rule out the possibility of a fresh national lockdown when he declared that the country was at a “tipping point” this week.

The rise in cases in recent weeks is not unique to Ireland and has been replicated across Europe and elsewhere .

The fact that up to 30% of cases are now coming from viral spread in the community is the key concern.

The message from the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) is to avoid indoor and congregated settings and “ration” the number of close contacts we have.

This advice is backed up by the latest figures published by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), which suggests the virus is thriving in our homes where the majority of Covid-19 clusters have been detected.

The latest HPSC figures show that 69% of 2,649 clusters occurred in private households, far outstripping the scale of clusters in other settings.

By comparison, there were 276 clusters to date in nursing homes, which bore the brunt of the virus at the outset of the pandemic, accounting for half of all Covid-19 deaths.

Where the number of deaths nationally peaked at 77 on a single day in April, we are now seeing days without any fatalities being recorded - 18 dea ths were recorded to date this month.

Hospital and intensive care admissions have fallen significantly - from a peak of almost 900 people receiving hospital treatment to around 30 people this week.

Covid-19 is thriving among young people 

The number of cases, however, is edging closer to 29,000, with more than 100 new cases being confirmed per day. This compares to single-digit increases in June and a peak of 936 new cases on a single day in April.

Official data further suggests the virus is now thriving among a younger cohort of the population, with new cases being 30 years of age on average, accounting, in part, for the low number of deaths that we're seeing .

The changing profile of who is contracting the virus prompted a warning from NPHET member and HSE Chief Clinical Officer, Dr Colm Henry, to "double up on all our behaviours”.

“We can't have society apartheid where we expect older people to obey one set of rules and younger people to not adhere to that set of rules,” Dr Henry told Morning Ireland on RTÉ radio.

“ What we know is the virus has not changed, we may change, we may want to change, we may want to do other things, but the virus is every bit as transmissible as it was back in February despite some contrary commentary on this issue,” Dr Henry said.

“Sequencing of the virus shows it is the same, every bit as transmissible, every bit as lethal to vulnerable people and older people and younger people are not immune to the effects of the virus,” he added.

His comments come as one million children returned to school this week, Co Kildare remains on a local lockdown, and pubs not serving food will remain closed for another two weeks.

Time will tell if we are at a “tipping point”. For the moment, vigilance is required by every citizen, young and old, if we are to stamp out Covid-19 and keep the virus out of our homes, hospitals, and other vulnerable settings this winter. This is not the time to squander the sacrifices made by so many over the past six months.