Gareth O'Callaghan: Apart from how to wash our hands, we've learned nothing from covid

Five years after Covid, we claim life is back to normal — but is that a sign we’ve learned nothing?

Cemetery workers and funeral agency workers transport a coffin of a person who died from covid-19 into a cemetery in Bergamo, Italy in March 2020. Picture: Reuters/Flavio Lo Scalzo 

“So we're meant to sacrifice the economy in the interests of keeping sick and elderly people safe? Shutting down the country will destroy everything, including our health.” 

Shocking words spoken by a friend five years ago this week as the country was heading for its first lockdown. Prioritising health and vulnerable people’s lives above the economy and tens of thousands of careers and jobs was insane, he told me — that the foundation of everything, including health and welfare, was a steady economy.