Social distancing must be shelved when coronavirus is under control

Inside Track with John McIntyre

A climate of fear has permeated the country. People are afraid to step out of line as common sense, rational and reason are becoming increasingly compromised in the battle to bring Covid-19 under control.

So far, the Government and various strands of our health system have largely played a blinder in tackling the coronavirus. Hundreds of lives have been saved and compared to the ongoing mixed messages emanating from the UK and the USA, Ireland has adopted a clear roadmap to bring us back to some sort of normality.

But in flattening the curve of Covid-19, we are now risking flattening the country. Few will disagree that we need another few weeks of restrictions to deal with this health emergency, but what happens then? If there are no daily fatalities and new infections are down to a handful or better, why would we still persist with social distancing?

I am coming at this from a sports perspective and the impact on contact codes, but there is a bigger picture. As it stands, many businesses will not be re-opening as a consequence of Covid-19 and those that have (and will) must invest thousands of euro in bringing their premises into line with new safety regulations.

And after all that, their footfall or customers will be about one sixth of the pre-coronavirus days. How many restaurants and cafes, for instance, are going to survive in that environment. Thousands of jobs will be lost permanently and the Government wage subsidy scheme won’t be lasting forever.

I don’t want to trot out the lazy line that the lockdown is worse than the disease, but there is a balancing act to be struck and saving the economy must be the priority once Covid-19 no longer stalks the country. Already, it appears that the community transmissions of the virus are miniscule, with infections now largely confined to residential care facilities and meat factories.

The danger is that the Government and their medical advisers will completely error on the side of the caution to avoid a second wave of the virus. How do we know we will even get one if we are not prepared to take some risks? For all I know, we could get three or four waves, but scientific conjecture is no substitute for reality.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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