Daniel McConnell: After four full lockdowns a different approach is required

Dr Tony Holohan gave an unconvincing explanation of the shift in his stance on antigen testing. Both he and Nphet are open to legitimate criticism

THE start of a new year is a time to take stock, assess how things stand, and to examine how some items can be improved.

While for the second year in a row it was a thoroughly disrupted Christmas, this time because of the Omicron surge, concern is now shifting to the next 10 days or so.

Will schools re-open or will we have a repeat of the fiasco of last January?

Will hospital numbers, which have stabilised, albeit at a high level, soar to unmanageable?

Or will we finally, as a country, do what we have spoken about for so long and actually live with Covid-19 and not in fear of it?

Like many, my Christmas was a series of antigen tests in advance of in-laws coming to stay, as well as a PCR test when I had a cough and was sneezing.

We had limited our movements as requested, not seen friends as we would normally do.

Annual lunches and dinners, which are always such highlights of the Christmas season, were cancelled to limit the chance of either contracting or spreading the virus.

Close relations, who we had hoped to see over the holidays, were either isolating due to positive tests or because they were close contacts.

The frustration and annoyance at the impact it has on our personal freedoms was considerable.

That’s understandable, given that we are now 21 months into this pandemic.

U-turn

 Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly.

On Thursday evening, further changes to the testing regime and isolating rules were announced by Stephen Donnelly, the health minister, following a meeting of some of the most senior members of Nphet.

The most striking aspect of that announcement was the significant u-turn by Dr Tony Holohan and Nphet about the use of antigen testing.

Having deeply and stubbornly opposed any suggestion of widespread use of antigen, Nphet’s recommendation, accepted by Mr Donnelly, is that people with symptoms should now get an antigen test first and if that proves positive, to get a PCR test.

Dr Holohan gave an unconvincing explanation of this shift on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland yesterday and he and Nphet are open to legitimate criticism for their dogged opposition to the use of antigen testing over many months.

More worrying was Dr Holohan’s statement that the Government’s official policy that four households can meet up inside is “not safe”.

Such a statement was his attempt, not the Government’s, to put the kibosh on New Year’s Eve celebrations

That may be his view, but it is not his job to be openly undermining the stated policy of the elected government.

Also, it was quite disconcerting that the advisor to the minister, with whom he has been at odds over several months, agrees with him. He is the minister’s advisor, not his master.

The significant shift in policy on Thursday night should have been articulated by the Government and not the CMO.

It should have been the health minister or the Taoiseach out explaining the move and in the context of the potential wider implications for the economy and society.

Questions over leadership

Such a vacuum, at times over the course of the pandemic, has led many to ask who is actually running the country.

The depressing aspect of much of this is that the playbook for responding to where we find ourselves refuses to change.

Contained again in Holohan’s at times incoherent interview was the admission that all of this, by way of enhanced restrictions, is being done to protect the health system from being overwhelmed. Nothing has changed in that regard since March 2020, 22 months ago.

Despite €4bn in additional spending, the increase in capacity is marginal at best.

Surely, we should reverse the premise of our approach.

Rather than looking at it as what we need to do in society to protect our ICU system, why can’t we ask what we need to do to our ICU and hospital capacity to allow society to continue?

Rather than simply locking down every time there is a spike, why are we not asking ourselves what can be done to minimise disruption to society, while dealing with the increased caseload?

There has been recurring talk of the State buying up a number of private hospitals to increase the capacity.

Some indications have put the price of a hospital at anywhere between €200m and €500m, depending on site-specific factors.

Now, given the amount of money we have already spent and wasted on Covid-19, surely expanding that capacity is a common-sense thing to do.

The reference to waste refers to the €375m of taxpayers’ money that was ‘flushed down the toilet’ during the scramble for PPE equipment early on.

That is the amount written off by the Comptroller and Auditor General on gear that was unusable.

Experts in the private medical sphere tell me that if the Government were serious, there would be plenty of willing sellers, as margins are not great.

But we should be basing our approach not on seeking to limit people, but on how we can open up as much as possible and do whatever we need to do to allow that happen.

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Surely, after four full lockdowns and the quasi lockdown we are currently in, a different approach is required: One that allows society to function, one that allows children and young people to flourish, one that allows our restaurants, venues, and other late-night events to take place.

This columnist has been very critical of the ultra-conservative approach adopted by this government and Nphet during much of this pandemic.

Locking down is not a zero-cost exercise and the more we do it, the greater the wider impact.

Secondary diagnoses are being missed, viable businesses are being made unviable through “arbitrary” restrictions.

Poor decision-making

Poor decision-making and a stubborn refusal to adopt a more ambitious approach by Nphet and the Government have compounded an already distressing situation.

It is also disconcerting that Israel, so long the poster child for its response to Covid-19, is already talking about fourth doses. Is that what we can expect here?

Surely, such a vista furthers the question of what we are all doing.

Nightclubs have been shut and enhanced restrictions are in place since December 6, with the further squeeze in place for the past two weeks and the booster campaign roaring ahead.

Yet this week, record numbers of cases are reported day after day. Something is not adding up.

The trojan work done by our frontline medical staff is recognised, as is the work of the low-paid retail workers who kept this country moving during extremely challenging times.

We are heading into a challenging 10-day period for government, with Omicron case numbers set to peak in and around January 9.

One hopes that ministers, when they reconvene in the coming days, will hold their nerve and not resort to the backstop of lockdown, as we did last January.

We need a new approach, which truly means living with Covid-19 and not in fear of it.

We need a government to govern with authority and not in fear of diverting from its ultra-cautious health advisors.

For far too long, we have operated on the basis of an abundance or excess of caution. We no longer have the luxury to engage in such excesses.