Schools should reopen on a county-by-county basis, says expert

Mr Ryan said the new strain of Covid-19 currently dominant in Ireland is more infectious to children than previous strains

Schools should be opened on a county-by-county basis, a leading professor has suggested.

Tomás Ryan, an associate professor in the school of biochemistry and immunology at Trinity College Dublin, said there can't be a "blanket policy" on the reopening of schools.

“Right now the numbers are coming down very well in Cork and Kerry, we’re not seeing the same in Dublin."

“Schools are not safe, schools are safe when the community around them is safe.” 

“Children do get infected and do contribute to the infection rate within the community.” 

Speaking to Claire Byrne today, Mr Ryan also claimed the strain of Covid-19 currently dominant in Ireland is more infectious to children than previous strains.

The B117 variant, commonly known as the UK Covid-19 variant “does infect children more than the previous variant,” he said.

Mr Ryan said there are "many things that could be done by the Department of Education to make schools safer than they are.” 

“We need to be seeing what we can do to mitigate transmission in schools, we haven’t seen enough of this. We need more face mask wearing. We need much more advice on ventilation. We still need to be looking at alternative building structures for having more spaced out classes. We need to be looking at blended learning.” 

Mr Ryan, who is a member of the Independent Scientific Advocacy Group, has publicly advocated for a Zero Covid strategy for Ireland, added that mandatory quarantine should be put in place to stop new variants from entering the country in the first place.