STAY DOING WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN SO GOOD AT...IT WORKS

THE coronavirus remains a ‘very new and live risk’ and the public shouldn’t be complacent as restrictions are lifted, the HSE has warned.

Today, the first phase of easing movement restrictions will begin, allowing greater freedom following almost two months of lockdown.

However, HSE chief Paul Reid yesterday pleaded with people not to undo the work that has been done and said the virus remains a threat.

The health service’s weekly Covid-19 briefing heard that the coming week is an important one for the nation, and Mr Reid urged people to remain vigilant.

‘It has been a really difficult phase for people in the last few weeks, but one thing’s for sure – what people have done, has worked,’ he said.

‘The big challenge for us in the next few weeks is to encourage everybody to keep doing it because any change in behaviours… we’ve seen a really good decline in the [coronavirus] rates. Any kind of change or loosening in behaviours will see those rates increasing.

‘It will severely impact on our capacity to restore our services to the level that we want to do. So we really want to urge the public – stay with the behaviours they’ve been driving.’

He warned that we must keep doing what we’ve been doing. ‘I think everyone has a certain tolerance level to be told to be compliant so I’m really urging the people, the public… if one thing is proven, it’s that what we have done has worked and the worst thing that could happen is we change what we’re doing and go backwards.’

Mr Reid said the return of non-Covid health services will not be easy, and will bring a ‘very new and live risk every day’.

‘We understand that the public wants us to scale back up to nonCovid services and I want to assure you that so does the board of the HSE, so do I as CEO, and so do all the executives.

‘People do want a level of predictability but we have to now deliver non-Covid services in a very unpredictable world and very unpredictable environment,’ he added.

‘Many people all across the health service are used to balancing risks every day as they have been providing a health service for many years.

‘However, this disease brings a very new and live risk every day, so delivering our service now still remains high risk and I want to assure the public that is the way we will go back into providing these services, being very cautious of managing a high-risk environment.’

From today, people will be allowed to meet friends and family who live outside their household in an outdoor setting in groups of four or less, providing social distancing is maintained.

Outdoor sport and fitness activities which allow for no contact and groups of no more than four – such as golf and tennis – will also reopen, while those working in construction and gardening will be allowed back to the workplace.

This is the first of five phases in the Government’s roadmap to ease restrictions over the summer months.

Childcare services for the children of healthcare workers have been postponed from this phase until later in the recovery.