The three stages of Ireland's coronavirus control plan explained

Despite 35 confirmed cases and its first death from Covid 19, Ireland - for now - remains in containment phase, the first of three as part of the State’s efforts to curb the new, and as yet uncurable, disease.

The three stages of Ireland's coronavirus control plan explained

Despite 35 confirmed cases and its first death from Covid 19, Ireland - for now - remains in containment phase, the first of three as part of the State’s efforts to curb the new, and as yet incurable, disease.

Those three stages are not identical to similar plans in place across international borders, but they do broadly resemble one another.

Neither the HSE nor the Department of Health has been willing to be drawn on when the country will move from one phase to the next, possibly because such decisions remain fluid. Nevertheless, that process of containment is the phase we have been in since January before the virus first officially arrived on Irish shores.

Fundamentally, containment means an attempt to stop the virus by denying it the ability to spread. That means identifying those with symptoms, testing them, and isolating them as quickly as possible, and then performing contact-tracing on those with the illness to see who they may have infected, then testing them too.

There are two ways of looking at containment in its Irish context. From one point of view, it has failed given new cases continue to be announced each evening and community transmission has now occurred.

The other way, and how Ireland’s health authorities have approached it, is that containment is a game of time - the longer the country remains in the initial phase, the longer the health service has to prepare for an influx of seriously ill people, and the more likely the economy will be able to absorb the impact of the disease.

Given Ireland’s numbers remain low in a European context, and given the country was one of the final three on the continent to present with cases of the virus, the HSE and Department of Health are probably broadly satisfied with how containment has proceeded. Realistically, however, we are coming to the end of this phase.

The next stage will be delay, and one of the first signifiers that it has come to pass will most likely be edicts shutting the schools, banning mass gatherings, and requiring all workers who can do so to work from home.

Delay applies when it becomes clear that the virus is ingrained in the populace and is beginning to spread freely. Its aim is to slow the pace of spread so as to prevent the health service from becoming swamped by serious cases, all at the one time. Given the amount of gatherings that have already been cancelled, and companies directing employees to work from home, in many ways the country is already on a delay footing.

Mitigation is the final stage, and will be instigated once the disease is spreading uncontrollably. Its aim will be to save as many lives as possible. At this stage, those with the disease may be so numerous that they will no longer even be seen in hospital, but rather be diagnosed remotely and told to self-isolate at home, depending on the severity of their condition (a similar approach was taken with swine flu in 2009). The seriously ill will receive absolute priority.

How soon we reach mitigation depends on how fast the illness spreads. More difficult decisions may be required should the number of seriously unwell overwhelm the hospital system.

[snippet1]987277[/snippet1]

more courts articles

Man (25) in court charged with murdering his father and attempted murder of mother Man (25) in court charged with murdering his father and attempted murder of mother
Man appears in court charged with false imprisonment of woman in van Man appears in court charged with false imprisonment of woman in van
Man in court over alleged false imprisonment of woman Man in court over alleged false imprisonment of woman

More in this section

Irish homelessness Government criticised for missing social and affordable housing targets
National Risk Assessment for Ireland Tánaiste urges Israel ‘to show humanity’ and allow more aid into Gaza
Lego set based on RNLI lifeboat could soon become a reality Lego set based on RNLI lifeboat could soon become a reality
War_map
Cookie Policy Privacy Policy Brand Safety FAQ Help Contact Us Terms and Conditions

© Examiner Echo Group Limited