The fortnight that saw the whole country plunged back into lockdown
Rising infection rates finally forced the Government into action, writes Philip Ryan
AT THE Cabinet meeting on Monday where ministers met to sign off on a second national lockdown, there was a brief moment of light relief when Heather Humphreys insisted Santa Claus should be deemed an essential worker.
The Social Protection Minister’s comment was tongue in cheek, but she was also making a serious point. She wanted to give young children hope as they faced into another excruciating six-week quarantine.
A public campaign noting Santa is an essential worker would let children know Christmas would still be going ahead despite the pandemic, she suggested.
With all the doom and gloom at the meeting, it was a welcome contribution. The mood among ministers has been particularly downbeat. They know the decision they made to lock down the country for six weeks will have a devastating impact on communities.
“Look, ministers are upset and very emotional at the moment,” a senior Government source said. “They are human after all and they know the impact this is going to have on their constituents.”
The decision to impose a lockdown from today until December 1 was made before a memo was brought before the Cabinet.
But ministers who did not attend the weekend meetings about new Covid-19 restrictions still had questions. There was also some unease, albeit not aired at the meeting, that a small group of party leaders and ministers were allowed to make such a significant decision.
The only one to raise an objection at the meeting was Green Party deputy leader and Culture Minister Catherine Martin, who noted the lack of women on the team of politicians and senior health officials who agreed the new plan.
Ministers also asked why a six-week rather than a three-week lockdown was to be announced. Taoiseach Micheál Martin told the Cabinet it would not be honest to suggest to people that the rising rate of new cases could be contained in three weeks.
There was also a push to extend the 5km travel restriction to 10km, and ministers also wanted to know why gyms would have to close – given the important physical and mental health role they could play during a lockdown.
The Taoiseach said gyms can become hotbeds for infection due to droplets being spread by people working out and they wanted to stick with 5km in the hope that a severe lockdown will have more of an impact than a softer one.
However, it is expected both issues will be re-examined in four weeks’ time and the restrictions may be eased if the rate of infections has receded.
Eventually, after three hours of discussions, the entire Cabinet agreed to the lockdown and the Taoiseach left to prepare to address the nation.
At the press conference
Leo’s team are also quick to note he did not rule out the option of a ‘circuit breaker’
after the Taoiseach’s speech, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar was asked if he felt he should apologise to the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) given his criticisms of the group two weeks earlier on the Claire Byrne Live show.
The Tánaiste said his criticisms were “valid at the time” and said he still believed Nphet had not “thought through” its recommendation of a national lockdown.
The Monday night interview after the Government rejected the advice of chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan’s team was a key moment eight months into the pandemic. It was seen as the Government finally standing up to public health officials who were making unreasonable demands of the public.
Varadkar was criticised for his tone but he also had his supporters in Government.
“He was articulating what we were thinking, quite frankly,” a senior Green Party source said. “How can you say Level 3 is OK on Thursday and then demand Level 5 on Sunday? And it wasn’t done in a way sensitive to how the public was feeling,” the source said.
Varadkar’s team are also quick to note he did not rule out a so-called ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown and raised the possibility at a Fine Gael parliamentary meeting that week.
While the first lockdown recommendation was dismissed outright, the second, which landed last Thursday, was taken more seriously. The next day, the Taoiseach said the call for a six-week lockdown was being given serious consideration.
Varadkar and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan also had a significant change of heart over the weekend.
As late as last Saturday night Ryan still did not believe a sixweek lockdown was necessary, but by Monday afternoon he had come on board with the Nphet advice.
“He wanted to keep things as normal as we could but he came around to the arguments after he had a day to think about it,” a Green Party source said.
The Taoiseach spent most of last Friday in Brussels at an EU summit and it was Saturday before he could fully address the latest Nphet recommendation. However, he did call the Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill on Friday evening to discuss the rising case numbers on the island.
The next day, Martin held a meeting with Dr Holohan and his deputy Professor Ronan Glynn about the latest advice.
Afterwards Martin, Varadkar and Ryan along with Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath and Health Minister Stephen Donnelly listened to presentations from Nphet and HSE chief executive Paul Reid.
Ministers were told Nphet’s projections for new case numbers had been optimistic and the rate was higher than their projections. At the current rate Nphet suggested around 400 people would be hospitalised by the end of the month. The numbers in need of intensive care cases would increase, as would deaths.
It is estimated that for every 1,000 new cases there may still be between five and seven deaths. Three deaths were recorded yesterday.
A lockdown exit strategy was also discussed. It was agreed the reproduction rate would have to go below one and new cases would have to drop on a continuous basis for weeks. The concerns were taken on board. But on Sunday it was still unclear if the Government would go for a full lockdown, with most ministers and advisers giving the clear impression they opposed the action. But on Monday it was decided to follow Nphet’s advice.
“Deaths might still stay low and other countries might manage better over the coming weeks, which will mean we and Nphet made the wrong decision, but balance tilted towards action,” a senior Government source said.
“General understanding with Nphet is if we are not down to 250 to 300 cases a week that their strategy isn’t working,” the source added.