Ireland has “failed repeatedly” to introduce the contact tracing infrastructure needed to avoid ongoing lockdowns.
DCU Professor Anthony Staines issued the warning after it emerged coronavirus figures are rising again.
Last night, the Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said the five-day case count was now over 400 per day.
He said it was a “worrying development which has persisted for the last few days.”
File photo of Professor Anthony Staines, 30-05-2013. Image: Laura Hutton/RollingNewsSpeaking to Newstalk, Professor Staines said officials are “not getting on top of the contact tracing.”
“Say you were found to be infected,” he said. “We isolate you and then we look at your contacts and isolate them.
“It stops there. That’s it. It doesn’t spread further than that. It is not easy but it can only be done with substantial local resources and the truth is there are not substantial local resources to do it.”
Lockdowns
He said the ongoing lockdowns are the result of the failure to put in place effective contact tracing.
“If you wanted to get rid of the virus, everyone could go into their houses, lock the door and stay there for three months and the survivors could come blinking out into the sunshine and there would be no COVID,” he said. “But that is no way to control a virus.
“That is like saying, ‘oh, we have a forest fire, let’s burn down the forest.’ It works, yes but it kind of misses the point.
“We have failed repeatedly to put in the most basic stuff. I don’t think we should tolerate the failures we have had up to now and I think the time to fix them is now.”
R number
He said the reproductive rate of the virus now appears to be rising and the increase is “very worrying.”
“It is obviously early but we are not getting on top of this,” he said
“We need a really, really clear guidance from the Government as to what the plan is. Are we going to have 300 – 400 cases a day for the next 11 months?”
Last night, Dr Holohan said small numbers of people were “congregating for social purposes and simply ignoring the important public health messages.”
He said they were “putting our collective progress at risk."
8 months closed yesterday. Deemed unsafe to operate by NPHET and Gov.
Is this safer?
Clearly nearby properties don't have to follow the rules. Our premises is in a disgraceful state this morning with tons of rubbish and people using it as a toilet.
We are furious this morning. https://t.co/qLti0gPTKQ
— Grogans Castle Lounge (@GrogansPub) November 15, 2020
He was speaking after Grogan's Pub in Dublin said it was left in a disgraceful state by people drinking outdoors on South William Street on Saturday night.
He also warned of ongoing outbreaks associated with workplaces and funerals.
Professors Staines said Ireland has an opportunity to “lead the way” in Europe by putting place in place a contact tracing system that is strong enough to prevent the need for further lockdowns in January and February.
