It is time for those in Ireland to “gird our loins” and take personal responsibility to suppress a third wave of Covid-19 infections, Professor Philip Nolan has said.
Prof Nolan told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland that the way in which the public behaves in the coming days will determine the number of cases facing the country in January.
The chair of the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet)'s epidemiological modelling group said that “what happens next is in our hands,” as the Republic begins to enter a Level 5 lockdown with the closure of pubs and restaurants from 3pm on Christmas Eve.
“Today’s the day to say we can take measures to keep numbers down,” he said.
“This is not the Christmas Eve I’d hoped to have when I thought about it last August.”
Now was the time to “gird our loins” and for people to work together to suppress transmission. Restrictions did not matter if people did not take personal responsibility: “It is up to each of us.”
Pull back
While under current restrictions it was permissible for people to gather under certain conditions, as a society we should pull back, Prof Nolan said.
Nphet has advised Government that a full six-week lockdown should come into force from St Stephen’s Day, with the closure of non-essential retail and an earlier ban on household visits.
Prof Nolan said it was an issue of personal responsibility and it was up to everyone to take due care.
He said it was appropriate to be with the people who were most important to us, but it was necessary to limit the duration of such gatherings.
Lengthy gatherings in indoor situations led to the spread of the virus and people should observe all the usual measures – hand washing, wearing masks, social distancing and ventilation.
There was now a period of time until the vaccination arrives where “we need to be careful,” he said. There was a message of hope that 2021 would have a very different ending to 2020.
If people changed how they behaved then in seven to ten days there could be an impact on transmission rates.
It comes as yesterday, Prof Nolan warned current measures designed to suppress soaring infection rates will not be sufficient to bring cases below 1,000 each day.
