Are children vectors and how do we move on from here?

This new plan to get out of lockdown, is it just plucked from thin air? Definitely not, it’s largely science-based. Officials do weigh up other factors too, such as people’s patience with the restrictions and how they will comply with the measures. The economic impact of shutting down huge swathes of industry is also a factor but the biggest consideration is the virus itself. We can’t see or do much about it until we get a vaccine, so officials have to make sure restrictions can contain the virus spread.

So what’s the science? The R number is crucial. It measures how many people pick up the infection from a confirmed case. This has been below 1.0 recently, which is good. That means positive cases are infecting fewer than one other person on average. If the R number stays static it shows we are controlling the virus. Public health officials also consider how the virus is behaving in care settings, such as nursing homes, and the capacity in our hospitals. The main aim is to contain the virus so hospitals are not overwhelmed as they were in Italy at the start of the crisis there. Flattening the curve is less of a buzz term recently but it is still the key aim.

Are we flattening the curve? We have not had that huge spike everyone feared at the start but the number of new cases has jumped and fallen intermittently over the past couple of weeks. Testing is key, and our regime has been littered with promises that have not been delivered upon.

Testing needs to get ahead of the virus if we are going to make progress. The plan is to be able to conduct 100,000 tests a week before moving on to phase one on May 18. This will enable people to get rapid results and allow contact tracing to pick out anyone else who may have been infected but struggles here leave lingering doubts about how this can be ramped up sufficiently.

But if the curve stays flat we get out of this, right? Hopefully. The R number needs to stay low and the number of new cases must drop off. If either of these rise, it is unlikely officials will feel confident enough to allow us to progress to the next stage of the plan to exit lockdown. For example, it is hoped a new phase will kick in on May 18 allowing us to meet people from other households outdoors or visit tourist sites. This will only happen if the virus is under control in the period up to mid-May.

And if the virus isn’t under control at any stage? We don’t move on to the next phase.

Are people getting better? Isn’t that a factor? That’s true, the figures we hear on the news every night for the total number of cases also includes people who have made a recovery from the virus.

Figures released by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) last week show 70pc of people have recovered. As of last night we had reached more than 21,000 confirmed cases but a significant volume of these people have recovered. This is a positive but anxiety about people still picking up the virus calls for caution.

Are other countries being as cautious? Ireland wasn’t the only country to put a plan in place last week and everywhere is taking slightly different approaches. Countries are at different stages of their Covid-19 battle and everywhere has different cultures and health systems to consider.

In Italy, relatives can visit each other from tomorrow, exercise outside and up to 15 people can attend funerals. Their hairdressers are reopening on June 1.

In the Czech Republic everyone must now wear masks to control spread, and Belgium, Austria and Spain have afforded people some freedoms. Grandparents in Switzerland have been told it is OK to hug their grandchildren.

That seems dangerous. I thought children are vectors? It seems there have been very few cases of children passing the virus to other people, according to research suggesting they “do not play a significant role” in how Covid-19 is spread. Swiss scientists concluded young children pose no risk of infection from Covid-19 because they do not have the “receptors” targeted by the virus.