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THE GOVERNMENT HAS advised members of the public to wear face coverings in some public spaces such as public transport and in supermarkets.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced today that Phase One of the roadmap, which allows some retail shops to resume trading while observing social distancing guidelines, will proceed from Monday.
In light of this, Varadkar has advised that members of he public should wear “face coverings when using busy public transport or in enclosed indoor public areas such as retail outlets” but added that it would not be a legal requirement.
“It is not going to be a legal requirement and there is two reasons for that. First of all, the science around it indicates that it may be beneficial but it’s certainly no substitute for all of the other things like washing your hands, social distancing and respiratory etiquette.
“Secondly, there are some people who will have allergies to face masks and face coverings, and things like that, and we have to bear that in mind. It is face coverings and there will be lots of information made available to people showing how to make face coverings at home, how to use them and how not to use them.”
Health Minister Simon Harris said:”We’re very eager that people don’t criticise or judge people who are not able to wear a face covering.”
Some people could have allergies, autism or other conditions that prevents them from choosing to wear one. He said it is not recommended that children under the age of 13 wear a face covering.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan added that this is not a “silver bullet” to prevent spread of the virus, adding that it is simply another measure to compliment existing measures such as hand hygiene.
“We cannot regard face coverings as some kind of magic shield in relation to this disease,” he said.
“It’s a supplement to the other measures that we are recommending… hand-washing needs to be maintained, we’re concerned if the message was to get out about the value of face coverings to be interpreted in a way that meant maybe we don’t have to worry about washing our hands as much… that is not the case.
This is an additional measure, it’s not a magic bullet for this disease.
The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) had been discussing the issue at its meetings this week. Holohan had indicated that advice on how to make coverings at home and on how to properly wear them would be given.
Along with advice around hand hygiene and social distancing from the health authorities to Cabinet this week, NPHET also advised wearing face coverings in these spaces but added these should be “non-medical face coverings”.
Unions including Siptu, however, said they were disappointed that face coverings were not made mandatory for those travelling on public transport.
“It very disappointing, to say the least, that today’s advice is advisory and not mandatory for those using public transport. We wrote to the National Transport Authority and the Minister for Transport, Shane Ross, on the 27 April calling for the introduction of mandatory face covering for passengers,” it said in a statement.
“Public transport workers are frontline essential workers and their safety and that of their families must be afforded every protection possible to allow them to continue to provide a service.”
In early April, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) published an opinion document on the suitability of face masks and other face coverings in the community for individuals who are not ill.
It stated that the use of face masks in public may serve as a means of “source control to reduce the spread of the infection in the community by minimising the excretion of respiratory droplets from infected individuals who have not yet developed symptoms or who remain asymptomatic”.
It also advised that the use of non-medical face coverings could be considered if it would not lead to increased competition between the healthcare service and the public for face masks.
“The use of face masks in the community could be considered, especially when visiting busy, closed spaces, such as grocery stores, shopping centres, or when using public transport, etc.
“The use of non-medical face masks made of various textiles could be considered, especially if – due to supply problems – medical face masks must be prioritised for use as personal protective equipment by healthcare workers.”
With reporting from Conor McCrave
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The public service will finally bankrupt this country once and for all. The money just isn’t there to meet their demands. Unless the Government can raise money through taxing the private sector workers or raising corporation tax, there is no way this money can be paid. Then again a Government desperate to get re-elected are capable of doing anything to hold on to power. The unions are well aware of when the best time to declare war is.
@jo mixon: It’s the Consultants on big money who are draining the system not the hardworking nurses imo.
@ianglen: And why is 1 in 5 consultant jobs unfilled?
Perhaps you should campaign for further pay cuts for consultants ?
ANd any that dont like it can go off to Canada/Australia.
@jo mixon: Weel . They found the money to give the banks a 30 year tax write off.
@jo mixon: And there’s way too many clipboards managers as well. Morale isn’t good among hospital staff atm.
@ianglen: anyone who believes this is an idiot.
@jo mixon: yep the public service ie people who live work and spend in this country as unlike nama bondholders banks developers tax exiles and the other fuxxers who have had free run protected by government ask my hole merry xmas fg trolls
@ianglen: actually..healthcare workers are are team, we work together to care for our patients and it is an insult when ignorant comments such as this are made. I am an NCHD and work 80+hour weeks. I will leaving Ireland in July to Canada…leaving my family and friends in Ireland..this is not for money, but for a decent work life balance and a better system. I will be supporting my nursing colleagues as they strike. The system needs to change and the public needs to stop pointing fingers at those healthcare workers in it; we all work hard to do our best in a system stretched beyond its limits.
Duties above their original description. Bloody unions will co.e up with any inventive way of saying we want more money . Black hole of a health service. Cost multiples of the bus in Manchester and services the same amount of people where is the logic.
@john s: exactly, wont fix or go in any way to solve the mess that is the HSE and the inefficiences in that system which results in suffering for everyone
People blame consultants. Consultants are amazing, not when you have to fork in 150 euro for a consultancy,but when your life is in their hands. They are people that fix people. They face more decisions in a week, than a bank CEO and get paid less. I would hate their job.
This problem is on repeat now, Wage Inflation. We have an artificial property bubble that is driven by lack of supply. It is the source of all our ills at the moment. Money is the means to make things more affordable, but the driver is affordability.
Insurance, mortgage rates, house prices, we’re like an out of shape flabby tiger.
It will tank the economy, it tanked it before. It depends on Government action and leadership they need put about 2Bn into a NAMA style build project. This will just get worse and the strikes and protests will continue. We all sign into a private/public economic stability model, where the government delivers affordable housing as a core tenet and freely fully opens sectors such as insurance etc., mortgage rates. This public worker, private workers is nonsense, we all live here.
Remember the New children’s Hospital is running close to a billion over cost which also has to be paid the whole system is f##} up
Follow a consultation, Dr, Nurse and hca for a week at work and tell me that 99% don’t deserve a good wage compared to all the other fu#k wits in the HSE and other government departments.
Leo our leader was in charge of Health for a while and did SFA and
watch as he performs the same act again as the unions walk all over him
Blame the unions, blame the consultants, blame the public service. Such other and total rubbish.
The problems have been pointed out repeatedly by the unions and the nurses and the unions and even the patients and have been ignored by government for years,
The hard working private sector pay for everything. Wrong guess what public servants pay tax as well.
The HSE and Dept of Health is top heavy and technically in the dark ages as regards records and such. The actual part of the system of curing and helping people works well its the admin and management that costs so much.
Doctors should do doctors work and managers manage the business. At times its the other way around.
Take it apart and start again is the only solution
Britain spends 125 billion with 70 million people we spend 20 billion with 4 million people. I suppose some Numpties are going to tell me that Britain are spending too little ???? Doing the math that means Britain should spend a 2.2 trillion. Scary isnt it ????
@Marcus o Dhonnghaile: £127 ( 142 billion euro) billion spend is on England alone ( pop 55 million).
Irish population is 4.7 million HSE spend is 17 billion.
Not sure where you are getting the 2.2 trillion?
I find this scary, but for different reasons.
have your say