Dublin street looked like All-Ireland Final day says Dr Holohan in defence of comments
Members of Gardai enforce coronavirus restrictons and move people on from South William street, Dublin at the weekend. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire
The chief medical officer (CMO) has said the scenes in Dublin city centre last weekend were like something from before an All-Ireland Final.
Dr Tony Holohan expressed his shock at the large crowds who gathered in the South William Street area on Saturday.
However, his response has been criticised given the public have been encouraged to enjoy an "outdoor summer".
The CMO said the virus can still spread outdoors when people are not social distancing or wearing masks.
"I drove through the junction looking up South William St and it looked like Jones road on the day of an All-Ireland, that's what it looked like.
"It's not at all that we are surprised that we see some level of non-compliance but that scale of that.
"I think if the council had set about organising an outdoor event they couldn't have squeezed more people into that confined arena and that was the concern," he said at a National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) press conference.
The CMO stood by his comments as he said 407 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed by the Department of Health.
The Department also confirmed that 93 people with the virus are in hospital with 34 in ICUs.
Earlier Dr Holohan warned that the country will remain vulnerable in the coming weeks due to a large proportion of the population not yet protected by the vaccine.
As of midnight, Tuesday 1 June, we are reporting 407* confirmed cases of #COVID19.
— Department of Health (@roinnslainte) June 2, 2021
34 in ICU. 93 in hospital.
*Daily case numbers may change due to future data review, validation and update.
In a letter to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, Dr Holohan said that the epidemiological situation is stable, but vulnerabilities remain.
In the letter, Dr Holohan said people who are not fully vaccinated should limit their indoor interaction with others who are also unvaccinated, especially if they are "at risk of severe impacts of Covid-19".
The letter was sent to Mr Donnelly on May 26 following a meeting of Nphet.
It highlights that despite the positive position that the country is in, “there remains a number of key uncertainties and risks”.
They include case numbers and incidence rates being “relatively high”.
In the seven days up to May 25, there was a 5% increase in the number of cases reported compared to the seven days up to May 12.
Dr Holohan said: “The epidemiological picture gives a broadly optimistic outlook in relation to the disease, but we remain vulnerable in the coming weeks as a large proportion of the population is not yet protected by vaccination”.
Dr Holohan added that there continues to be “very significant progress” made by the vaccination programme with uptake being high.
More than 2.5m doses of the Covid-19 vaccine has been administered in Ireland to date, with more than 50% of adults having had at least one jab.
The CMO also noted continued strong compliance with public health measures.
He said that the relaxation of measures in May “has not yet resulted in any noticeable increase in incidence of infection”.
Personal services such as hairdressers and non-essential retail all reopened during May.
Dr Holohan said there is “scope to continue with the relaxation of public health restrictions” but warned that it must be done on a cautious and phased basis.
From June 2 hotels and B&Bs are allowed to reopen, while outdoor services at pubs and gyms will reopen from June 7.
In July, indoor services at bars and restaurants and indoor events are expected to resume.
Dr Holohan said “sufficient time” must be allowed to pass between phases to allow for an assessment of the impact of the reopening.
“This will be critical to ensuring the protection of the gains made over recent months, the protection of those most vulnerable, and the protection of our core priorities of protecting health and social care, education, and childcare”.
He wrote that a continued high level of adherence to public health measures “will be important” as the phased reopening represents “a significant return to economic and societal activities”.
The letter also highlighted how the cyberattack on the HSE has caused “significant disruption to the usual disease surveillance processes”.
However, “a range of key data remain available and serve to provide a broad understanding of the current disease profile".
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