Level 5: The dark road ahead
Government has been forced to eat a big slice of humble pie
SO OUR brave political leaders faced down the tyrannical public health officials, who they warned us were getting out of control – and then did exactly what they were told to do.
They took their time about it and put some distance between the petulant slapdown they gave chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan on his first day back in the job.
Then two weeks later, to the day, they turn around and do exactly what they were told to do by Dr Holohan and his group – a group of what they had us believe were bandit medical professionals at the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet).
They asked for Level 5 restrictions for six weeks and now they’ve got it and we all have to live with it.
The Government not only gave the succinct impression it was against another lockdown, it also suggested Nphet over-stepped the mark and, as Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said, “had not thought things through”.
You could argue the coalition leaders gave it a couple of weeks and got their ducks in a row before announcing a second nationwide lockdown.
There were some signals in the Budget that more severe measures were coming down the tracks when they unveiled a scheme especially for businesses forced to close due to Government restrictions.
There was a suggestion the Pandemic Unemployment Payment might change, but there was no indication the top rate of €350 would be reinstated.
There was also no mention of a significant overhaul and expansion of the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme.
The changes to the Government’s two most expensive supports for employees is going to cost a fortune and you can be sure it will eat into a large chunk of the much-heralded “biggest spending Budget in the history of the State”. Watch out for ministers scrambling to protect their patches when Paschal and Michael come looking for their money back in the coming months.
Over the weekend as ministers and officials met at Government Buildings, there was no indication they would go for a top-level lockdown.
On Saturday, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan wandered out of a meeting pushing his bicycle talking about how the situation with intensive care beds was bad – but not that bad.
On Sunday afternoon, ministers and senior advisers were playing down the possibility of a full on Level 5 lockdown. Although some were managing expectations about the distance you might be able to travel from your home.
Ministers wanted to put it at 10km at least so as to give parents a bit of room to travel with their kids during the mid-term. It ended up at 5km, just as Nphet wanted.
More than one minister wanted to keep restrictions at Level 3 to see if the household visit ban announced last week would work.
Higher Education Minister Simon Harris levelled with the public on Sunday afternoon and announced more restrictions were coming but he did not know at what level.
Meanwhile, an anxious public wondered if they were going to wake up in the morning with a job to show up for or a business to run.
But as the weekend turned into a new week it became clear that the public health evidence could not be ignored.
The days of dismissing Nphet – both publicly and privately – have come to an end and a large slice of humble pie was on the menu for the majority of ministers.
We will never know what would have happened if the Government acted quicker and took on board Nphet’s advice when it was first given to it two weeks ago.