‘A day of hope’
:: No new Covid deaths reported for first time since March 21 but warning over easing of restrictions
A POTENTIAL turning point was reached in the fight against Covid-19 yesterday as no new deaths from the virus were reported for the first time since March.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar described the welcome news of no new fatalities as a “significant milestone”.
He tweeted: “First day with no reported Covid-19 deaths since March 21. This is a day of hope. We will prevail.”
The breakthrough looks set to intensify the campaign to reduce the two-metre rule on physical distancing.
Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan confirmed he is to meet Cabinet ministers this week as pressure grows to cut the physical distance rule to one metre to help the hospitality trade and businesses.
“It is consistent with our overall pattern of reduction,” Dr Holohan said on the significance of zero daily deaths.
“There is always a weekend effect in terms of reporting.
“There were four deaths last Monday and the following day there was a jump. But it is part of the continued downward trend we have seen.”
Dr Holohan also warned that the easing of restrictions will lead to more cases and clusters in areas such as workplace settings.
A POTENTIAL turning point was reached in the fight against the coronavirus yesterday as no new deaths from the infection were reported for the first time since March.
The breakthrough looks set to heighten the campaign to reduce the two-metre rule on physical distancing.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar described the welcome news of no daily fatalities as a “significant milestone”.
He said: “First day with no reported Covid-19 deaths since March 21. This is a day of hope. We will prevail.”
It comes as chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan confirmed he is to meet Cabinet ministers this week as pressure grows to reduce the two-metre physical distance rule to one metre in a bid to help the hospitality trade and business.
“It is consistent with our overall pattern of reduction,” he said on the significance of zero daily deaths.
“There is always a weekend effect in terms of reporting.
“There were four deaths last Monday and the following day there was a jump. But it is part of the continued downward trend we have seen.”
Referring to the calls to speed up the roadmap, he said it was not a case of different sectors having to seek a form of “planning permission” from the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet).
He warned the easing of restrictions will lead to more cases and clusters in areas such as workplace settings.
So far, 1,606 people have died from the virus. A further 59 newly diagnosed cases of the infection were reported yesterday, bringing the infection toll so far to 24,593.
Questioned on the two-metre physical distancing rule which restaurants, pubs and businesses want reduced, he said all measures in the advice from Nphet are under “constant review”.
“It is something we will look at with other measures. It’s important to say it is not a magic thing on its own,” he said. “It is not to say that everything outside of two metres is safe and anything less than two metres is less safe.”
If the distance between two people is less than a metre, the risk of spread of infection is greater than if they are two metres apart, he added.
“We think for the moment that two metres is a reasonable compromise, given where we are.”
He said he understood why businesses are concerned, but it was important to look on it as part of the whole package of public health advice.
The stages set out in the roadmap are not rigid, but the belief was it was the right way to proceed.
If the evidence and guidance has changed and the assessment of the disease has altered to a point where it can be amended, they will do so.
He was questioned about allowing sixth class children to return to school before the end of the year to mark “the rite of passage”.
Nphet, in its advice to the Government last week, pointed to the hope measures could be introduced to ease the challenges faced by children due to the restrictions.
“I don’t want this to be seen as a process through which people go almost as if they’re applying for planning permission and they have to make an application and await adjudication from here,” he said.
“We give broad public health advice, it’s reasonably easy to understand.
“The challenge, then, is for other sectors to find a way of internalising that within their own service or business.”