Irish Examiner view: Covid outcry often misdirected

Criticism of Uefa for the number of fans present at the England v Germany Euro 2020 game overlooks that governments have the ultimate decision on the number of people attending sporting and social events while we still battle Covid-19. 

Fans leave Wembley Stadium following the UEFA Euro 2020 round of 16 match between England and Germany at the 4TheFans fan zone outside Wembley Stadium.

Germany’s interior minister has said it was “absolutely irresponsible” for Uefa to allow more than 40,000 fans into Wembley to watch England play Germany at Euro 2020 on Tuesday. His remarks are a sober assessment of the continuing danger posed by the pandemic and, in particular, the more contagious Delta variant, first identified in India. However, his comments are misdirected. It is the British government, which will allow 60,000 fans in for the semi-finals and final, he should be criticising, as well as Uefa. The British government decides public health policy in the UK; whether Uefa deemed it appropriate to have such a large crowd at Wembley is irrelevant.

The crowd of 41,973 was reported as being the biggest in Britain since the pandemic began and came while the Delta variant is leading to a significant increase in new cases in the UK.

However, it was far from being the biggest crowd at a sporting event since the start of the pandemic. That distinction goes to the annual Cheltenham Festival. The festival opened on March 10 last year with at least 60,000 racegoers in attendance each afternoon, while 68,500 were at the track to see the Cheltenham Gold Cup on March 13 — four days before prime minister Boris Johnson announced extensive UK-wide lockdown measures.

Cheltenham’s decision to go ahead — with 20,000 people travelling over from Ireland for the festival — triggered widespread anger and disbelief here. At the time, the Jockey Club, owner of the Cheltenham Festival, was criticised for its decision to proceed with the four-day event but, again, the British government bears responsibility.

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Governments worldwide continue to grapple with the pandemic, though. The outcry that has greeted this week’s Nphet modelling and the delay in easing restrictions to indoor dining is evidence that we have a long way to go. Allied to that is the fact the Government failed to reach its end-of-June vaccination target.

The HSE online Covid-19 vaccine dashboard is back online for the first time since the cyberattack in May. It shows that up to Tuesday June 29, some 4.1m doses have been administered. Of those, 2.4m are first doses while almost 1.6m people have received their second jab.

It was aiming for 82% of the adult population to receive their first Covid-19 vaccine dose by Wednesday. However, HSE chief executive Paul Reid has confirmed that 67% of adults had got their first jab and 44% their second over the six months vaccinations have been given here.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin admitted in the Dáil yesterday that Covid has been devastating for the hospitality sector and society in general. He said vaccinations are the most effective weapon against the virus, yet, the Government is still looking to lockdown measures primarily to contain its spread.

The hospitality sector is indeed devastated, and with no reopening date on the horizon for indoor dining.

We need answers on how we can continue to increase the pace of vaccinations, protecting as many as we can, using expertise in pharmacies and other health sectors. If that fails to happen, we will have no hospitality sector worth reopening.