Sir, – The marked rise in Covid-19 cases; the increase in hospital admissions (not all due to incidental positives in asymptomatic patients); the challenge maintaining services across the economy due to staff illness; the criticism by the World Health Organisation of our recent handling of pandemic restrictions; and our recent dependence on and the inherent weakness of antigen tests, laid bare internationally when our Taoiseach dined with Nancy Pelosi on the basis of a negative antigen test, only to abruptly leave the table when the more sensitive PCR test result became available, cannot all be laid at the door of Omicron BA.2.
The disarray in Nphet and at the Department of Health, and the premature decision to remove the mask mandate surely has made a bad situation worse.
The Economist Tracker (updated March 27th) lists Ireland’s excess deaths as 83 per 100,000 of the population (Britain 221, Belgium 213 and the US 337) indicating relatively successful pandemic management to date.
It would be ironic if healthcare delivery is overwhelmed at this point by the less virulent, albeit highly transmissible BA.2 , in a highly vaccinated population.
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What has changed in our management and how can we reverse it? – Yours, etc,
Prof EDMOND SMYTH,
Consultant Microbiologist,
Dublin 4.