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TÁNAISTE LEO VARADKAR has said the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) gave “no suggestion” last Thursday that it would recommend the country enter into Level 5 restrictions.
Government this evening approved the entire country entering into Level 3 restrictions for a period of three weeks starting from midnight on Tuesday.
This followed a recommendation from NPHET last night to place the entire country under Level 5 restrictions.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Claire Byrne Live tonight, Leo Varadkar said this recommendation “hadn’t been thought through and was made without prior consultation”.
“What happened on Sunday night came out of the blue,” Varadkar said.
“Last Thursday, when we received our advice from NPHET, there all in writing, there was no suggestion whatsoever that they were contemplating suggesting that we move to Level 5.”
He said further that the recommendation was “not crazy, but not thought through”.
“Government and NPHET have to get back on the same page,” he said, adding that people “won’t see a repeat of this” late-night recommendation.
Varadkar said there were three reasons the government rejected the Level 5 recommendation:
Varadkar said there was “no sudden change in the last three days that legitimised a move from [level] 3 to 5″.
He said he has full confidence in Dr Tony Holohan as CMO and that he has “confidence in NPHET to dispense public health advice”.
“But that is what they do,” he added. “They don’t advise the public, they advise the government and government decides.”
“None of those people [in NPHET], for example, would have faced being on the pandemic unemployment payment yesterday.
“None of them would have to tell somebody that they were losing their job, and none of them would have had to shut their business for the last time.
“And I’m not talking about the economy, I’m talking about something that could have happened to half a million human beings tomorrow, and sometimes the reason and why politicians make these decisions, is because we’re the ones who can see the bigger picture.”
Varadkar said it’s “not just about a virus” or statistics, it’s about how it “impacts on so many different people and so many different communities in so many different ways”.
“But bear in mind, this is still in our hands. We can push the virus back, it’s not inevitable that we’re facing into a second lockdown. But we do have to follow that basic public health advice that we all do agree on,” he added.
Speaking to press tonight, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said this past day “hasn’t damaged” the relationship between government and NPHET.
He said there remains a “strong working relationship”, adding that “there always has been and will continue”.
Earlier this evening, the Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed that the government decided not to enter further into lockdown measures by moving to Level 5.
The situation will be reviewed again after this period.
“This is not about public health and businesses competing against each other, it’s about lives and livelihoods. We can’t have one without the other,” Martin said.
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Terrible.
Weren’t the Lebanese complaining about “Homeland” and the fact that Beirut, “The Paris Of The Middle East” was being portrayed as a bombed out shell of a city and a dangerous place. Heard this on BBC radio yesterday. Something to that effect anyway.
There are still quite a few bomb and bullet scarred buildings left in Beirut. There’s also a huge amount of sparkly and sterile norman-forsterized development in the downtown area. It’s an interesting place.
Very sad development.
Who are these two people? I see that they have twitter accounts. Are they over there tweeting about this? Are they journalists? Are they credible witnesses?
I believe Declan they have taken residence in the spare bedroom of the two bed terrace in Coventry already occupied by the the SOHR (Syrian Observatory Human Rights). All mod cons, bills included, close to all amenities….it was a no brainer…
Toorkeel, I gave you a green thumb for your comment. :)
Spent time there on business last year. Beautiful city and people. Such a shame to see this type of thing again. Horrible no matter where it’s happening.
Jasus I didn’t think there was anything left to blow up :)
Darren, what you don’t know would fill a large encyclopedia.
It might have also had the Phalange as a target as these Christian dislike Assad deeply, and not just the victim. I think all Levantine Christians are seeing that they have no friends there only people who use them, or they should be.
have your say