We’re stuck in a yo-yo cycle of lockdowns due to reckless dithering of this Coalition

HEARTS sank when it emerged in media reports on Friday that the current lockdown restrictions would be extended for another two months.

Across the country, the public has been making tremendous sacrifices. They are exhausted and burnt out after a long, dark and hard winter.

As a father of two boys, I know the lockdown bears very hard on our children and young people who are cut off from going to school, playing sports, having a routine and seeing their friends.

The sad and frustrating reality is that things shouldn’t have to be this hard.

We are stuck in a yo-yo cycle of lockdowns because this bungling Government has failed to put in place a maximum suppression strategy to get Covid-19 under control.

Reckless dithering and half-measures have failed to suppress the virus and protect

‘It is time to be frank about clear failures’

our communities. Lockdowns have been necessary to protect our hospitals and healthcare workers, but not enough has been done to boost capacity in getting the basics right.

I am reluctant to criticise the Government – we all want to stay positive and have faith in the handling of the crisis.

But it is time to be frank about the many clear failures which have led us to this point.

The basics we need to get right are test, trace, isolate and now, vaccinate.

Testing and tracing have not been used to proactively hunt down the virus. There is no serial testing in hospitals until after an outbreak. High-risk workplaces are not inspected or tested regularly.

On May 8, 2020, NPHET recommended mandatory hotel quarantine.

They had called for discretion on testing, travel and quarantine to be removed to protect this island from importing the virus.

It is nearing the end of February 2021 – 10 months on – and this is only now being introduced after one of the most severe outbreaks in Europe.

All the while, the public has suffered the consequences.

By the end of March 2020, we had 285 critical care beds. In 2018, we knew we needed 430 by 2021. We still have only 285 today.

A decade of under-investment in health has left our hospitals exposed, understaffed and without enough critical care beds. This is the hallmark of a Government that is unable to make big decisions when it matters most.

We have the same number of community testers and tracers now as we had in August.

If we cannot hunt down the virus, it will continue to put people and communities at high risk.

The HSE has a target of having 2,000 community testers and tracers in place.

These are hired by an agency and the HSE has not taken direct responsibility for the hiring process. They currently have 1,577 in these services – 749 testers and only 828 tracers.

Meanwhile, there are more than 1,400 health and social care professionals waiting and willing to work who signed up through the ‘Be on Call for Ireland’ initiative.

Some returned home to fight the virus and others were willing to give up employment to work as part of the national effort.

More than €600,000 was spent on this campaign yet only 300 workers were hired through it.

The rest have been waiting for a call but have heard nothing.

Their offer has been ignored and their potential wasted.

We cannot have any more sloppy half-measures. People have made huge sacrifices to get the numbers down.

The Government must live up to its side of the bargain. There must be full mandatory quarantine for all non-essential travellers.

There must be mandatory

‘Must be mandatory testing before travel’

testing before travel, on arrival and a week after arrival.

We cannot risk importing dangerous mutations from abroad.

Once the numbers are low, a robust testing and tracing system can help us to stay on top of outbreaks.

To date, this has not been put in place – it must be.

The cycle of yo-yo lockdowns we have isn’t fair, and it isn’t sustainable.