Nphet feared country was entering third Covid wave in December

Dr Tony Holohan: Nphet was afraid the country was already at the beginning of a third wave of Covid-19 on December 17, it has emerged. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

The National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) was afraid the country was already at the beginning of a third wave of Covid-19 on December 17, it has emerged in Nphet minutes.

At that point, people were telling GPs they didn't want to get tested for coronavirus "due to the impact it would have on their Christmas plans".

The minutes of the Nphet meeting held on December 17 state: "The Irish Council of General Practitioners informed Nphet that its members had witnessed an increase in people presenting with symptoms of Covid-19 who were unwilling to get a test due to the impact it would have on their Christmas plans. It warned that this may indicate that a number of cases were going undetected."

Nphet also observed that "the deteriorating situation is all the more precarious as a further period of relaxation of measures commences from December 18. As restrictions ease and inter-household mixing and travel increase, Nphet is concerned that this will result in an inevitable increase in the levels of social contact and opportunity for disease transmission."

The number of positive Covid-19 cases was already rising at that point and according to the minutes: "Nphet agreed that, while it is difficult to accurately project the future trajectory of the disease at this stage, these facts may indicate the country is in the early stages of a third wave of infection."

Nphet noted that in the period from November 16 to December 13, the number of infections caused by social interactions was second only to those generated by household contacts.  It pointed to "the potential risk to individuals and families posed by increased intergenerational mixing over the holiday period as a consequence of recent high levels of socialisation in the preceding weeks".

At the meeting the HSE voiced its concern that many student nurses, on placement in acute hospitals, were working in nursing homes at weekends and this "may be exacerbating transmission in these environments".

A Joint Department of Health and HSE update on Health System Preparedness on December 30 said: "The impact of the significant rise in Covid cases reported over the last 14 days is only now beginning to be seen on the health system."