Call for 'swift, reactive and responsive' measures for people breaking Covid-19 guidelines
Infectious diseases expert Professor Paddy Mallon has called for swift and reactive measures for people breaking Covid-19 guidelines on social distancing. There also needs to be a re-focus on the goals that need to be achieved to suppress the virus, he said.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland Prof. Mallon said it important to improve the level of engagement over a long period of time to maintain a clear focus. In Phase 1 the focus had been to crush the curve, so it was important that the next phase have clear goals and how to achieve them.
That would help the public refocus, he said. A clear message needed to be at the core of any campaign.
He also called for penalties which would have to be “swift, reactive and responsive.”
Prof Mallon said that images from Berlin Bar in Dublin at the weekend had been “very disappointing” to the general public and to health care workers. The reaction had been summed up well by hospitality sector representatives who said that they had been let down.
The sector was trying to start up, the majority were trying very hard to ensure safe environments for staff and customers, he said.
What had happened in the Berlin Bar did not reflect the sector, which, “by and large behaves responsibly,” he said.
In recent weeks the general response from Irish society to Covid measures had been better with more people wearing masks, added Prof. Mallon Such high compliance levels had been reassuring.
Businesses and industries were doing their best to create safe environments for their staff, but the issue remained that a small number were not adherent and that was causing a problem, he said.
"In general we just need an element of refocus, we need to maintain the level of engagement over a long period of time to make clear the focus."