IRELAND’S ACTING Chief Medical Officer has moved to assuage concerns about the spread of Covid-19, telling the Late Late Show that the government is “still in control” of the virus.
Speaking during an appearance on the RTÉ One show, Dr Ronan Glynn insisted that, despite an uptick in cases, the country was on a “different trajectory” to the one seen last March.
He attributed the rise to the gradual reopening of the economy though he did urge the public to maintain their commitment to the restrictions put in place by health officials.
“It’s no surprise that since we’ve opened up and relaxed measures over the past three months that we’ve seen an increase in cases,” he said.
“But we’ve seen a very slow increase in cases, a completely different trajectory and picture than we would have seen back in March, thankfully.”
Dr Glynn did admit that Ireland, as a whole, was “not where we’d like to be” in tackling the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’re not where we’d like to be,” he said.
“We’d prefer to have much lower numbers of cases every day, but that said, particularly with the measures we brought in a couple of weeks ago, we are seeing a stabilisation.”
However, he noted there remained a strong silent majority in Ireland that has stuck with the measures from the beginning "which gives him great hope".
The Acting Chief Medical Officer says Covid-19 is still "under control" in Ireland. However, he says there is no certainty around what is going to happen in the pandemic | https://t.co/Uwo0ul4LZF pic.twitter.com/jPZPKeKPFJ
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) September 4, 2020
The new measures introduced by the government saw the authorities ask that people avoid public transport wherever possible.
All sport was also advised to be played behind closed doors under the measures.
The government’s handling of the pandemic has drawn criticism in some quarters, with one group of noted academics calling for a “zero-Covid” approach similar to the one seen in Ireland.
Without it, they are warning that Ireland could face as many as four more waves of the virus.
Dr Glynn, however, appeared upbeat telling the Late Late Show that the government and the National Pubic Health Emergency team are due to publish a road map for taking the country through the next nine months living alongside the virus.
“We are closing the chapter of Covid-9 and are now moving into chapter two,” he said.
One of the main focuses for the months ahead will be coping with Winter and the seasonal pressure it places on the health services.
“We don’t want to see people isolated in their homes,” the Acting Chief Medical Officer said.
“We need people to stay connected,” he added.
Though he acknowledged the need for the wider public to enjoy some form of a social life, “for all of that to happen, we need people to do it in just a slightly different way”.
“All of the small things together add up to an enormous contribution to the national effort,” Glynn added.
“The job we have to do is see that stabilisation continues and improves.”
