Covid 19 Part XX-26,644 in ROI (1,772 deaths) 6,064 in NI (556 deaths) (08/08)Read OP

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Update 12th June 2020: Researchers advocate a policy of COVID-19 suppression

On 8 June, a group of Irish researchers published an open letter, urging the two governments on the island of Ireland to rethink their long-term mitigation approach to the COVID-19 crisis. They urged the governments to resist the pressure to “go back to normal as soon as possible” and reassess lockdown measures rather than aim to remove them (https://crushthecurve.ie/).

The researchers argued for tougher short-term measures and adoption of a coordinated all-island “policy of suppression” (https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/covid-19-letter-signed-by-irish-researchers-seeks-policy-rethink-1.4273936). They argued that this could eliminate the virus within weeks rather than months. This would involve wearing masks in public when social distancing is not possible, “a vigilant test/trace/isolate infrastructure”, as well as testing travellers to Ireland. While researchers acknowledged the costs of imposing further lockdown, they also argued that the “real costs” of living with the virus “for the foreseeable future” far exceed the costs of stricter short-term measures. According to them this represents “the most scientifically sound strategy in terms of public health and economics alike”. The researchers referred to successes of South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Austria, Greece, China, Iceland in halting the virus but agreed each country needs tailored response.

Amongst signatories of the letter are specialists in public health, infectious disease, virology, immunology, and respiratory and intensive care consultants, many of whom have worked on the frontline during the pandemic.

When Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan was asked about the open letter at the Department of Health on the day of its publication, Holohan said that the public health leadership has been clear from the beginning that the priority was to “minimise the number of cases to as low as it can possibly go”. He said that Covid-19 couldn’t be eliminated in the same fashion that illnesses such as polio could be. He added that the public health leadership felt “it’s the right time to ease restrictions” and the situation would be monitored closely going forward.

https://www.covid19healthsystem.org/countries/ireland/livinghit.aspx?Section=1.2%20Physical%20distancing&Type=Section