GOVERNMENT’S TEN BIG HURDLES
THE national consensus in fighting Covid-19, so impressively and naturally constructed from the middle of March and which held for so long, is coming apart.
It was probably inevitable that, eventually, significant sections of our society would cavil at the restrictions imposed upon them – even if for the common good – and that many would start to disobey, reverting to past behaviours.
It was also likely that some people would resist any re-imposition of restrictions, especially if they were not convinced about their necessity or had come to believe that, in the absence of a vaccine or effective early treatments, we just have to get on with living with the new realities.
It was inevitable that the task would become more difficult for the new Government than it had been for the outgoing Fine Gael-led administration.
But it still could be doing things better. Leo Varadkar’s government – despite being effectively booted out of office by the electorate in the February election – benefited from the quick collective decision that we all had to be in it together, to form a common bond to act as a defence against Covid-19’s spread.
But it also communicated with empathy, provided financial supports to those affected, exhibited a degree of firmness and was relatively consistent and coherent in the actions it took, even when it didn’t get everything right.
Clarity
Now much of that has been lost. Legitimate questions are being asked of Micheál Martin’s Government’s handling of many situations, particularly its seeming inability to communicate with the same confidence and clarity as Varadkar’s preceding administration.
Yesterday’s press conference saw the announcement of a range of measures that appear contradictory and do not address some of the main issues while focusing on the minor matters.
So, for example, we now have situations where a crowd of 50 is allowed indoors at a religious service – which may be fine – but cannot stand masked at a sideline watching sport.
We cannot invite more than six people from three different houses into our home for dinner but we can go to a restaurant where there will be dozens of strangers present. This is apparently because we can’t be trusted to conduct our own social distancing at home but can be confident the restaurant will police that even as people get drunk.
We are being told not to use public transport until September 13 unless it is absolutely essential, but we are about to send tens of thousands of children back to school on buses. The list of contradictions goes on. Things may get much worse for this Government if it does not deal effectively and efficiently deal with the following ten issues:
1. SCHOOL RE-OPENINGS:
ADVICE to the schools has been late in arriving, leaving many with little time to prepare adequately and inform parents as to what is happening. The advice is also limited, leaving some schools to improvise. There remains confusion over opening hours, class sizes, social-distancing requirements, hygiene facilities in schools, the washing of school uniforms, the provision of school buses, when children are to be kept out of school if feeling sick and the procedures to be followed in the event of positive Covid-19 cases being confirmed.
2. LEAVING CERT RESULTS:
THE portents from the UK are far from good. In Britain, there has been a massive public and political controversy over the downgrading of teacher-awarded marks because of the use of computer-generated algorithms to maintain ‘consistency’ with the performance of individual schools in previous years. It is believed, but there has not been transparency on this, that a similar formula is being applied in Ireland. But given that it has been abandoned in the UK, are last-minute changes to the results likely here? And no matter what is done, can pupils and parents be confident that the results given on September 7 will be fair and accurate?
3. THE PUBS AND RESTAURANTS:
THE pubs are an important provider of income for owners, jobs for those employed and an outlet for people who go stircrazy if locked up at home. It is unfair that some establishments can open and others can’t when there is evidence of rules regarding food and time-limits being flouted by some. Either they should all be open or all be closed, unpopular as the second option would be.
4. MEAT FACTORIES:
WHILE there are good reasons to keep the supply of meat products going, for employers, employees, consumers and farers, this can only be done by adherence to the strictest of standards. Nothing we have heard so far has provided confidence that this can be achieved, especially when the Health and Safety Authority has been treating factories to advance warnings of the few visits that have been made – a ‘courtesy’ nobody else gets.
5. DIRECT PROVISION AND SHARED ACCOMMODATION:
IT isn’t just meat factory workers who tend to live in clusters in an effort to save money. Many other low-wage employees – or those working in the gig economy – and people in Direct Provision share cramped living accommodation that can accelerate the spread of the disease. Why ask others to change living arrangements or cocoon when this greater source of danger is not addressed?
6. FLIGHTS INTO AND OUT OF THE COUNTRY:
THE ‘green list’ has not provided certainty as to what people should do, not with the Government saying no essential travel should be undertaken but not providing a legal block against it. Many, it seems, have gone on sun holidays in recent weeks to countries outside the ‘green list’ and have not self-isolated on their return, not fearing any real State effort to enforce quarantine. There may be economic merit in allowing flights from the US and the UK and other Covid hot-spots, but only if firm restrictions for two weeks are placed on those arriving. The same surely applies to those arriving on ferries, even if via the North.
7. MOUNTING JOB LOSSES:
THE Government worries about the loss of tax revenues and how it can get the money to provide supports such as the Pandemic Unemployment Payment and the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme. It wants to reduce and eliminate these over time, which makes sense, but if it ditches the latter then the increase in layoffs will be calamitous. Keeping the economy ticking over is essential but the imposition of further restrictions might do great damage to the prospects for recovery.
8. PREPARATION OF OUR HOSPITALS:
THE initial lockdown was motivated by a fear that the hospital system – particularly intensive care units – could not cope with the flood of anticipated cases. Thankfully they did, but at an enormous price, not just financial: lots of other health issues were not dealt with and others have been created. The question remains as to how prepared the hospitals are for a surge. Encouragingly, the bulk of new confirmed cases do not seem to require intensive or hospital care.
9. TRACK AND TEST:
TO be able to confront this disease it is necessary to find out quickly when someone has it and then to immediately find out if those in contact with the victim are also Covid-19 positive. That it is now taking an average of four days to get results constitutes a massive failure of the system and could do enormous damage to containment efforts.
10. THE GOVERNMENT’S INADEQUACIES IN PERSONNEL:
THOUGH his performance on Prime Time last night was impressive, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has to up his game if he is to achieve the level of public support that his predecessor Simon Harris enjoyed. But does he have it in him? Norma Foley, as a first-time TD, was a shock choice as Minister for Education. She faces the biggest three weeks of her political life and has to show a capacity for communication that has been invisible to date. But most of all, Micheál Martin, who has been waiting all his political life to be Taoiseach, needs to step up to the plate and be a convincing leader.