Tennis leo Varadkar has acknowledged the need for a “short and hard lockdown” known as a circuit breaker to reduce the Covid-19 numbers to controllable levels, but said it would “break my heart” to think of a second lockdown.
The Corona virus warns that the pandemic has already been estimated to “cost us $ 10,000 – $ 50 billion” and that the second lockdown will bring the state’s debt demand to a level similar to the financial meltdown. More than 10 years.
However, senior government sources told the Sunday Independent that the country would be closed within 10 days. The decision is expected after Thursday’s meeting of the state’s scientific and medical advisory body, Nephet.
At the time, some experts close to the government estimated that there could be as many as 1,500 to 2,000 Kovid cases a day, with 40-50 patients in the hospital’s intensive care units.
The figures are lower than Ireland’s went down in March, and a repeat of this could be avoided – but the trend is now said to be of great concern to high – level government figures.
Along with the three deaths, 1,012 new cases were confirmed yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, 199 Kovid-19 patients were admitted to the hospital. Of these, 31 are in the intensive care unit.
Varadkar is also worried about when and how the country will emerge from the lockdown, and today he is preparing a series of questions to be answered when leaving the second lockdown, he said, adding that he is not so sure of “protecting” a circuit break. Christmas “.
Tennis said: “The problem is that it’s harder to get out of it when you’re completely locked down. As we have already learned, re – opening is much harder than locking.”
Referring to the controversy that erupted on RTE One last week, Varadkar said he had taken a stand not to reject the circuit breaker as there was strong opposition to a Nephew proposal to move the country to the toughest level 5 lockdown soon.
“It represents a short and severe lockdown that will hit the virus again and reduce the case numbers to a manageable level. Similar to the second lockdown – but longer.
“It may be necessary at some point. No other country in Europe has tested it. It may be a test, but it will work. It seems to be working in Israel.”
The Sunday Independent is expected to discuss the ‘circuit break’ proposal at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Some believe the current Level 3 restrictions work in Dublin – but there is an opinion that Donegal will have to go to Level 4 this week.
A government source said the center of the rift between Enfet and the government was the desire of officials to lock down the entire country against the belief among ministers that local lockdowns would work.
“There doesn’t seem to be an acknowledgment that Level 3 is working in Dublin. This is a real problem. It’s going to be at the heart of the way we’m handling it in the near future,” officials said.
Health Services Executive Chief Executive Paul Reid told the government the country’s critical care capacity is in a state of alert. HSE has developed a color-coded alert system: red but has no function other than cases related to Kovid.
In a move reminiscent of the early stages of the last lockdown, health workers will resume their public campaign this week for the protection of top workers.
