This is one of the big questions that the Irish are asking themselves: now that most sanitary measures have been lifted, now that we can crowd hundreds into crowded pubs, that we can rub shoulders with 82,000 spectators in the biggest stadium in the country, what is happening with the pandemic? Do we act as if the virus no longer exists?
Absolutely not, the heads of Irish Public Health warned on Wednesday.
“The pandemic is not over”, launched the Dr Tony Holohan, head of the panel of experts tasked with recommending the way forward to the government. The Omicron variant is manageable for the moment – in particular thanks to vaccination – but it is likely that new versions of the virus will challenge the health system, explained the Irish doctor.
He appeared before a parliamentary committee with two of his assistants. These specialists have painted a portrait of what life with the virus could become in the coming months. Not just in Ireland, but in all countries trying to return to some normality despite the pandemic.
For the moment, a visitor who landed in Dublin after spending the last two years in a cave could hardly guess that we are in the midst of a pandemic. Unless he took the tram or entered a store, where wearing a mask remains compulsory despite the lifting of health restrictions.
The so-called “normal” life resumed fairly quickly in Ireland. Cafes, pubs and cinemas are full of young and old in good spirits. The students are back on the school benches. The workers return to the office for a bit. All these people must “accept to be close to the virus, because we know that community transmission remains high”, explained Tony Holohan.
We are in transition from a model where restrictions are recommended by Public Health to a model where people exercise their personal judgment.
After being told for two years that we risked death to rub shoulders with this virus, there is a psychological barrier to cross to agree to rub shoulders with it. And contract it. Although the “vast majority of people infected with the variant recover quickly,” said Dr.r Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Ireland.
The carrot at the end of the stick is the abolition of a series of constraints in Ireland. The vaccine passport has been eliminated. Restaurants, performance halls and stadiums have reopened without distancing. Public and private gatherings are again allowed without masks and without limits of people.
Common sense
In return, the Irish have a greater individual responsibility, explains the Dr Holohan. “We are in transition from a model where restrictions are recommended by Public Health to a model where people exercise their personal judgment. »
“Caution remains in order,” insists the chief doctor. Wearing a mask remains compulsory in shops, schools and public transport. It is “crucial” that people self-isolate if they have symptoms of COVID-19. And, yes, they should also continue to wash their hands.
“People will have to assess the level of risk. We have never advised against hugging your grandmother, but if the grandchildren have a runny nose, it is best that they stay away from her, ”illustrates Tony Holohan.
Public Health Ireland intends to focus its efforts on protecting the most vulnerable people. The chief medical officer considers it plausible that a fourth dose of vaccine will be offered only to people who are immunocompromised, for example due to cancer, or who have risk factors, such as asthma, obesity or a self-defeating disease. immune. These people would also possibly have priority access to rapid screening tests.
Amazing deconfinement
Raj Chari, professor of political science at Trinity College Dublin, believes that the details provided on Wednesday are likely to reassure the population. “People were surprised by the sudden announcement of deconfinement. They need to know the reasons behind this decision”, says this Canadian of origin established in Ireland for twenty years.
He just published an essay, Viral Politics, on the management of the pandemic in several countries. The professor believes that Canadian provinces, such as Quebec, do well to play it safe by lifting restrictions gradually. He got chills seeing Dublin’s pubs packed with revelers over the past two weekends. “I don’t go out much in the current context,” says Raj Chari.
He observes that Irish Public Health has delivered its opinions independently since the start of the crisis. On the other hand, the Irish government rejected the recommendation to move towards a new confinement during the second wave, in the autumn of 2020. “Governments want to be re-elected, they are reluctant to displease voters,” he explains.
“The most important thing is to anticipate, for example to predict the arrival of a new variant, to avoid steps forward and steps back,” adds the professor.
“Not out of the woods”
The yoyo of confinements and deconfinements has played on the morale of the Irish. Faced with uncertainty, institutions no longer know what to do, including in the cultural sector. The national organization Dance Ireland, based in a restored old industrial building, has decided to maintain almost all the restrictions put in place during the Omicron wave. The goal is to avoid the “devastating impacts” of a further closure.
“The spring of 2022 promises to be bright with the lifting of health measures by the government last week. However, we are not out of the woods. The pandemic is not over and coronavirus infections are still at a very high level,” said President and CEO Sheila Creevey.
She decided to keep a limit on the number of people who can enter certain parts of the building, to maintain the questionnaire allowing to reserve dance studios, to ventilate and clean the premises between each dance session, and to keep a lot of other measures aimed at curbing the spread of the virus. It was dead calm when the Dutythis week, except in the studios where the artists came to practice their art.
Less than a kilometer away, the Abbey Theatre, which describes itself as the “national theatre” of Ireland, did not hesitate: “We are coming back from February 11 with a full house. The deconfinement is a huge relief for us, ”says Jen Coppinger, production manager, met at the Abbey Theater café.
Frenzy reigns all around. Theater managers are working to relaunch the logistics of returning to 100% of seats. The number of spectators was limited to 50% of the reception capacity due to Omicron. “We are doing everything necessary to ensure safety. Theaters are safe places. There were no outbreaks in the rooms, ”recalls the producer.
This report was funded with support from the Transat International Journalism Fund-The duty.