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LAST UPDATE | 2 Feb 2022
IRELAND IS IN a positive position with Covid-19 but the global public health risk remains high, an Oireachtas Committee heard today.
While Ireland’s current position has improved, more variants of concern are likely to emerge in the future, the Chief Medical Officer explained.
The Joint Committee on Health convened this morning to meet with senior members of the National Public Health Emergency (NPHET).
It heard an update on Covid-19 and examined the easing of restrictions.
CMO Dr Tony Holohan, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn and Chair of the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group Professor Philip Nolan fielded questions from TDs and senators on the current situation with the pandemic and Ireland’s response to it.
Dr Holohan told the committee that the incidence of the virus is still high but has fallen from its peak.
He has outlined that confirmed cases in hospitals and the average number of new cases in hospitals each day have also reduced, along with cases in ICU, daily admissions, and cases requiring mechanical ventilation.
“The number of Covid-19 patients in receipt of advanced respiratory support in hospital settings outside of ICU has also reduced. The evidence in relation to Omicron as well as our experience of it, indicate that the burden of severe health outcomes appears reduced compared to previous waves of infection,” Holohan said.
“In addition, overall Covid-19 related mortality remains relatively stable.
“We are in this much improved situation as a result of the population’s engagement with the vaccination programme, and the booster programme in particular, and high levels of adherence to public health measures, as well as the reduced virulence of Omicron.”
The committee heard that the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) contacted NPHET in recent days to “weigh up the evidence” on booster vaccine doses for people aged under 15.
Dr Glynn said a recommendation from NIAC is expected in the next two to three weeks and added that Ireland was not alone in not having started booster jabs for this age cohort.
Regarding mask-wearing, the deputy CMO reiterated NPHET’s commitment to review the matter later this month.
Glynn said NPHET were in the process of renewing evidence at the moment and will make an updated recommendation by 17 February.
He explained that, at that stage, every child will have had the opportunity to get vaccinated.
Holohan said NPHET recommended the change in restrictions given the “broadly positive outlook” of the virus.
The change in advice meant that the majority of Covid-19 rules were lifted on 22 January, including restrictions on hospitality and events.
“In advising that social and economic restrictions could be removed, the NPHET stressed that the pandemic is not over and that with a significant level of infection nationally, Covid-19 still poses a risk to public health,” Holohan said.
In this regard, there will be an ongoing need to retain some public health measures to reduce risk. Protective measures should remain in place in primary and secondary schools, masks should continue to be worn in all settings where currently regulated for, and we must continue to encourage everyone to complete their primary and booster programmes of vaccination.
“In this regard, I would urge anyone who has not yet received their booster dose or completed their primary course of vaccination to do so as soon as possible. The main purpose of vaccination has always been to prevent serious illness and death – Covid-19 vaccines continue to prove remarkably effective in this regard, especially for those who received their booster,” Holohan said.
The committee heard that masks will “continue to play a key role in reducing transmission” and that it is important that people wear masks correctly.
“It remains critical that if you have any symptoms of Covid-19 you self-isolate immediately. Those who are identified as a close contact of a confirmed case need to follow the appropriate public health measures.
“It is recognised that, the removal of restrictions, while very welcome, will cause anxiety for some. In particular, this may be the case for many people who are immunocompromised or more vulnerable to the severe effects of Covid-19.
“I wish to assure those who may be anxious that the risks associated with Covid-19 are greatly reduced through vaccination and that, with appropriate caution, they should go about their daily lives.”
He will tell the committee that although Ireland’s current position is positive, Omicron is unlikely to be the last variant of concern.
“Therefore, we must remain vigilant and ensure that our response is agile and flexible, with an ability to respond rapidly and appropriately to any emerging threat.”
With reporting from Céimin Burke
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Replace right wing with left wing and the headline sentence is exactly the same
@Johnny King:
Agreed.
Extremists, on either side, are not big into building consensus.
@Johnny King: until these terms stop making money for the media we will continue to hear about it.
There is no far right in Ireland. Just people with common sense. The brutal truth is those who disagree are part of the establishment!
@Irish Axe: Oh, there are far right here alright.
They burn down hotels and hostels.
And attack those they chose to dislike.
@Irish Axe: Yup, typically transparent attempt to convert various lawlessness and extreme anti-social behaviour into ‘common sense’. At least you didn’t fall back on ‘patriotism’.
@Irish Axe: Wrong. Dumb fks without a decent bone in their body.
@Irish Axe: #0.9%
@Irish Axe: you’re right as the far-right only got less than 1% of support. Common sense voted 52% for FFG so eat that!!!!!
@9QRixo8H: It’s so p@ťhetically funny seeing the usual sč̣obie brigade constantly harping on about the far right bogeymen, when in reality they refer to ordinary people that don’t want our country further destroyed by foreigners.
It’s a psychotic condition, often associated with taking hallucinogenic drugs, and is especially prevalent amongst a number of cohorts.
These include existing illegal immigrants, people working in the NGO illegal immigration industry as well as our own lifelong dole merchants who believe that there is a limitless amount of money and homes for a limitless stream of illegal immigrants.
@Thomas Sheridan: I think you hit nearly every dog-whistle point. Well done!
@Irish Axe: There is a right wing, they believe everything on social media and all sorts of weird and wonderful story’s.
A lot of it is completely off the wall.
One great lie that did the rounds was bus loads of immigrant’s been bused around to vote as instructed. Depending on where you are , it was the greens, FF, FG, SF and even a few independents were accused of it. Off the wall stuff!
If you read their literature , they are far right and bigotry and discrimination are not common sense.
The problem is they moved the centre. Nothing wrong with being right wing in the traditional sense. It’s good for those of that persuasion to have suitable candidates. Because the main parties made a bollix of immigration policies, it opened the door for far right cabbages to make themselves known. The far right will simply drop off if we get immigration fixed, a big ask, admittedly. I don’t think expecting sensible border controls to be a right wing thing anyway. All parties should be in favour of that.
@ecrowley ecrowley: No, they didn’t move to the center.
(Economic) Right wing parties want open borders.
That gives employers a greater pool of people seeking employment, keeping wages lower than they would otherwise be.
That gives businesses larger markets for their goods and services, increasing profits.
That creates more demand for housing, benefiting landlords, developers, banks, estate and rental agents, solicitors…
It is harmful to people already here.
But we don’t count.
Had to stop reading such a pompous, cracked, old age mouth scutterer rambling. There’s alot wrong that’s gone on/is happening in the workings of this country, and no matter how you paint it, reality is sf/sd’s are up in councils seats while ffgrns are down over 100 between them. This will continue going into a general election with right sided parties (mainly independent Ireland) gaining ground slowly also.
@James Reardon: The government parties are down 67 between them. I think you’ll find that that isn’t ‘over 100′.
@Brendan O’Brien: oh well, still down a nice chunk. Good to see one of the journal comment dwellers on standby for correction. *thumbs up
Seems anything right-leaning is “far right” for this current Government that does literally everything against its own system.
Hypocritical click bait article.
Nope, our right-leaning govt have 52% of support, but your far-right has zero percent of support!!! And we will go more rightwing in bringing in more landlordism and vulture funds because that is what is needed and you far right don’t understand this
@9QRixo8H: “You you you”, don’t ever recall posting my political stance. Do you make it a habit projecting yourself onto others, putting words into peoples’ mouths? Sound like a clown doing that.
@Kieran Menon: Peadar constantly sounds like a clown, I wouldn’t place any stock the ramblings of such a cr3tin.
Left wing? Right wing? No difference, really. Both are ultimately equally illiberal and authoritarian in their outlook. Each knows what’s good for you because you don’t, and they believe society needs to be strictly managed in accordance with their narrow vision, and if you don’t get with their program, you will be disciplined. You may even need to be re-educated! Strangely and somewhat slyly, they never tell you all this before they get into power, though. The older I get, the more cynical I become…
Activist journalism. The heads on those
“journalists”. All nerdy nutjobs.
He’s going mad that his parties go 0.9%!!!!!! His twitter is FULL of extreme-right reposts but sure he’s not far right he’s normal would never support a holocaust or racial segregation, right? RIGHT?
So F ing sick of this ‘far right’ rhetoric. Most of my families’ husbands and wives are from outside of Ireland… guess what though?? They came here with a legal Visa. This current Government and their Civil Servants couldn’t appoint one person who could even organise a school register legitimately let alone the electoral register. I for one am done.
One of the commenters in another article was throwing around the term insanity when it is pointed out that the taxpayers are funding the modelling community to say the planet is burning up, boiling, and things like that. This three-ring circus of academics, politicians, and the electorate is a remarkable spectacle as an exercise in dysfunctional social engineering.
The trap is to believe in left and right politics when the dynamics are academic politics operating through a social-political conduit, and reactions to this are seen as right politics. Journalists like the idea of left/right politics, but it is a distraction from people who like to be fair rather than ideologues.
Look at how academia works and how nature is incidental.
Restricting female bodily aurltonomy is not far right, who celebrated the success of Franco against the democratically elected government of Spain, the Vatican and the Catholic Church in Ireland, seems that the Irish never knew that who led them were far right for many years.
Thoroughly enjoying the demise of SF
@John D Doe: The party that increased its representation at both local and EU level?
Burning down abandoned hotels is nothing compared to what SF were doing during their ‘Long War’ .
There are five councillors elected who are critical of immigration. That is five out of one thousand.
And the thing is they are right, we have not enforced our own laws on immigration.
Far right (and Far left) means concentration camps – think Hitler, Stalin & Co.
Anyone throwing that terminology around in this country should be locked up – just so they know what they are saying.
$tup!d is the new clever and if you disagree your $tup!d
have your say