Sensible approach needed on distancing in churches, says Harris

Minister for Health Simon Harris has told the Dáil that common sense should prevail in the guidelines offered on social distancing in churches.

The National Public Health Emergency Team will reconsider on Thursday the question of numbers in places of worship after criticism of guidelines that churches could only resume services with a maximum of 50 people in attendance.

Mr Harris told Fine Gael TD Frankie Feighan who raised the matter that “it is an issue where common sense should prevail”.

Mr Feighan said people were deeply disturbed that churches would only be allowed to resume Masses provided there were no more than 50 people. He said this “makes no sense whatsoever” because some churches are very large.

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Mr Harris said he and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar had asked the public health emergency team to look at the matter again.

“I know how much their faith matters to many people” who are looking forward to returning to their church.

“We don’t want anyone getting sick at Mass or church or their place or worship” but many churches were large and “common sense needs to prevail”.

What next after Covid-19

Mr Harris also told the Dáil the Sláintecare office is considering priorities for this year and next in light of the challenges posed by Covid-19.

“It is very clear that the reforms under the programme will be necessary, more than ever,” he said.

In possibly his last speech to the Dáil as Minister for Health Mr Harris also said the reproduction rate at which a person infected with coronavirus passes it on to someone else remained stable at between 0.5 and 0.8. But because of the low number of cases the “more important number” to monitor is the number of new cases per day and where they are emerging.

“The average number of cases over the last five days was nine. This day last week, it was 19.”

He also has signalled that the lifting of travel restrictions will go ahead on Monday because “we have worked hard to suppress this virus and we look in a strong position to progress”.

He said the Government “will decide how to proceed tomorrow afternoon” following the public health emergency team meeting.

The Minister said he hoped that many people would see relatives they had not seen for many months because they lived in other parts of the country.

In May 85,000 outpatient appointments were dealt with virtually via online GP consultations and prescriptions sent electronically to pharmacies.

He said “better infection control measures, more and better alternatives to hospitals, healthcare supports in our nursing homes, keeping people in their homes for longer” are “no longer options but absolute necessities”.

He warned of the delays in “donning and doffing of equipment, significant additional time for cleaning of beds, theatres and equipment” and enhanced PPE and cleaning between patients.

“Patients booked for surgery will require to be tested prior to surgery. The health service we know will be no more and we must reconstruct it safely and dynamically.”

He said moving care to the community setting “will be a fundamental pillar in the post-Covid world. The Community Care Fund is committed to delivering up to 1,000 community workers . . . [and] new initiatives aimed at reducing waiting lists and scaling up the integration fund projects.”

Social distancing

The Dáil also heard Fianna Fáil health spokesman Stephen Donnelly warn that infection-control measures will seriously reduce the capacity to treat patients. Surgeons estimate seeing about half the number of patients in some cases in a given operating theatre.

There could also be a reduction in capacity of up to 80 per cent for “more invasive diagnostics like scopes”, he said.

Sinn Féin health spokeswoman Louise O’Reilly said the Taoiseach was wrong and “he should apologise” for “trying to contradict” figures on the infection rates among healthcare workers.

On Tuesday INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said Ireland had the highest infection rates of healthcare workers anywhere in the world.

Ms O’Reilly said “no country uses the infection rate as a percentage of the healthcare workforce. That is not how it is managed. Internationally speaking we do have the highest infection rates in the world.”

She added that Ms Ní Sheaghdha and her members and healthcare workers who have contracted the virus are “owed an apology”.