VACC TO WORK
Leo warns office return ‘unlikely’ until staff have their jabs
LEO Varadkar has warned that office workers should stay at home until they have received their vaccinations. The Tanaiste said: “It is unlikely the return will begin until people have at least one jab, if not both.”
And staff may be forced to do their jobs remotely for months. Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn added: “Please continue to work from home
where possible.”
TANAISTE Leo Varadkar has said it is “unlikely” that workers will begin to return to their offices until they get a Covid-19 jab.
The Irish Daily Mirror understands the phased return for employees may not begin until August or September despite demands by some employers to bring their staff back to workplaces.
It comes as the country eases restrictions today as part of its emergence from the longest lockdown in Europe.
From today the 5km travel rule is lifted and people can travel within their county or within 20km of their home if crossing county boundaries.
All pupils in both primary and secondary schools will return to the classrooms and all residential construction can restart as well as early-learning and childcare projects.
Two households can meet up outdoors for social and recreational purposes but not in private gardens.
Mr Varadkar, Minister for Trade, Enterprise and Employment, has indicated it will be many months before workers will be given the green light to return to office spaces.
However, that message will come as a relief to staff who told the Irish Mirror that they are experiencing pressure from employers.
Mr Varadkar said: “It is unlikely that the return to offices will begin until people have at least one jab, if not both. We have come so far. The risk of getting or spreading the virus is so much lower once vaccinated.
“We see that in the nursing homes and among the healthcare workers.
“I know some people are keen to get back to the office but it’s worth sticking it out for a few more months now the end is in sight and circumstances for a safe return are clearer.”
Some employers are attempting to coerce workers back to office spaces by using the positive message about the projected arrival of vaccine doses and the ramping up of its roll-out.
Desk-based employees, who are not yet vaccinated, are also worried the easing of restrictions will add further pressure for them to return to work.
Other workers gave examples where their boss tried to persuade them to return to their workplace stating that there had been a significant drop off on Covid-19 cases in recent weeks.
Several employees said they believe the remote working rule is “getting lost” and employers are now “taking chances” and “picking and choosing” when the message on working from home has not changed.
One man who works in the public sector said he is fearful to “argue the point” with his employer as he doesn’t want to be deemed a “troublemaker”.
He said colleagues have been asked to return to their office space from next month when “we can perfectly do our jobs from home”. One pregnant woman explained she has also been
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“told” she needs to go back to the office despite outlining to her boss Government guidelines say otherwise.
A Government source said “realistically” it could be August or September before the phased return can begin.
The source said nobody who can carry out their duties at home and have been doing so should go into an office or workplace and employers should not pressurise them to do so.
The National Public Health Emergency Team and the Government have been pushing the message that people should still work from home where possible.
However, there has been a rise in Covid-19 cases linked to workplaces and traffic on the roads has increased.
At the recent HSE briefing, the national lead for Test and Trace Niamh O’beirne presented evidence that 15% of 787 Covid cases that underwent source investigation had listed workplaces as a possible place of infection.
Meanwhile, the HSE’S clinical lead on infection control, Prof Martin Cormican said 19 cases of the P1 variant, first detected in Brazil have been found in Ireland.
He said the spread of the variant has so far been “very limited” and public health teams are working “really hard and following up on all cases”. He said: “It’s really important to say that variants can come from outside [Ireland], there’s also a possibility of variants starting here.
“No country is immune from variants. That’s again one of the reasons why we want to try and keep the number of people who are getting infected as low as possible.
“Every time the virus copies itself it can make mistakes, if you’ve got thousands of people infected, you’ve got lots more copying of the virus.”
Speaking to RTE, Prof Cormican said the Covid-19 situation in Ireland “had improved over the last three to four weeks with a lot more people vaccinated” but that cases still remain high, “much higher” than last summer.
Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn last night urged people to “please continue to work from home where possible”.
He added: “Please do not take our children returning to school tomorrow as a signal to return to the workplace.”