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The situation in the following weeks developed rapidly, culminating in Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s landmark speech from Washington on 12 March when he began “I need to talk to you about coronavirus”.
What happened that day is the subject of an in-depth oral history published on TheJournal.ie today as people from all walks of life – including the key decision makers – tell the story of what happened on the day Ireland changed.
It may only be three months ago, but an awful lot happened very quickly within the space of a few weeks either side of 12 March.
Here’s a timeline of all the developments leading up to the Taoiseach’s announcement:
The Department of Foreign Affairs had already amended its travel advisory to Italy, telling citizens to avoid non-essential travel to the regions affected by coronavirus. By this time, Ireland and other European countries were watching with alarm at the speed and severity with which Covid-19 had spread in Italy.
In calling off the game on the 26th, the IRFU said it was “happy to comply” with the instruction from the the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET).
Health authorities had begun to test people at this point, and the public were warned that it was likely there could be a confirmed case in Ireland soon.
The person had travelled from northern Italy to Dublin and travelled on to Northern Ireland. Health authorities said that the HSE would seek to contact anyone who sat within two rows of the affected person on the plane.
Minister Harris said the general public should continue to adhere to the public health protocols. By this time, the public was being advised to do the things we’ve all now become accustomed to – including washing your hands thoroughly and regularly, isolate if you have symptoms etc.
29 February
Dr Tony Holohan led the press briefing on the day the first case was confirmed. Sean Murray / TheJournal.ie
Sean Murray / TheJournal.ie / TheJournal.ie
Speaking at a Department of Health press conference – which notably didn’t yet feature social distancing – chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said it was “not unexpected” and that “we have been preparing for this eventuality for many weeks now”.
He said a process was under way to contact people who made contact with the patient but added this will take “some time”.
Health officials contacted the school and the principal, staff and parents of pupils of this school were notified. All pupils and teachers were asked to restrict their movements until the end of the 14-day incubation period.
Officials said that they would receive guidance on the meaning of “restricted movements”.
More cases were announced today. Companies such as Google and Penneys (their head office staff) were being told to start working from home this week.
In a statement, the Taoiseach said workers “should receive income support” if they have to self-isolate. HSE chief Paul Reid said the matter of disinformation online would be raised with the social media giants.
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Reid also said its procurement team was aiming to increase the sourcing of health supplies in a “volatile market”, and funding was also provided to increase ICU bed capacity.
At this stage, Italy had 3,000 cases and just over 100 deaths as it ordered schools to close.
6 March
By the Friday, the pace of new developments was quickening. Many hospitals began to banvisitors. Healthcare workers returning from high risk areas were told not to go to work.
Nursing homes also sought to ban visitors as restaurants began to report mass cancellations.
Trinity College also closed a section of its campus following a confirmed case.
On the other hand, the government wasn’t yet banning mass gatherings with the Taoiseach saying that wasn’t the advice at this stage. No final decision had yet been made on the St Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin.
7 March
At this stage, there were 19 cases in Ireland. A recruitment freeze on nurses and midwives was lifted by the HSE due to the threat of pressure being put on the health service because of the spread of Covid-19.
Reports also emerged of a number Irish people onboard a mammoth cruise ship off the California coast where 21 people have tested positive for the coronavirus.
After a report in the Business Post, HSE CEO Paul Reid said he “can’t dispute” figures that suggested 1.9 million people in Ireland could contract Covid-19.
9 March
The situation began to escalate even more quickly from Monday 9 March.
In a precursor to the more substantial pandemic unemployment payment and wage subsidy scheme, the government announced a package of reforms for sick pay, illness benefit and supplementary benefit designed to ensure employees and the self-employed can follow medical advice to self-isolate while having their income protected.
The HSE was also scaling up its preparedness with €435 million in funding allocated to respond to Covid-19.
10 March
The number of cases was rising – now it had passed 30 – with an increasing amount coming from the spread of the virus in the community.
At this stage, the Department of Education was still saying that it wouldn’t be ordering primary and secondary schools to close.
The Department of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, took a major step in issuing a “do not travel” advisory for Italy – the highest level of warning.
It put Italy in the same category as countries like Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen.
The banks were also beginning to respond to the crisis, with Ulster Bank releasing details of a range of measures aimed at supporting personal and business banking customers whose financial situation has been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.
The Taoiseach had been due to arrive in New York that day as part of his St Patrick’s Day US trip but cut it short to go straight to Washington the following day.
Also in Washington that day, US President Donald Trump told the American people “it will go away, just stay calm”.
11 March
The first recorded death related to Covid-19 was confirmed on Wednesday 11 March.
A further nine cases brought the number of confirmed cases to 43.
Dr Holohan said: “We continue our efforts to interrupt the transmission of the virus. It will take all of us, collectively to succeed. Please continue to follow public health advice.”
The signs that something major could be forthcoming soon were beginning to manifest, with Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe warning that Ireland would need an “unprecedented shared national effort” to respond to the Covid-19 outbreak.
HSE chief Paul Reid, meanwhile, tweeted that “we are entering a new phase in Covid-19″.
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24 hours that changed everything: An oral history
We are entering a new phase in #Covid19. I fully support our hospitals who have to make decisions on restricting visitors based on clinical risk, patient and public safety. Please do as we urge and our ask will increase as we progress. @HSELive
Tánaiste Simon Coveney also updated travel advice for Spain, advising against all on-essential travel to three regions, including the capital Madrid. Trinity College warned it could lose out on €3 million after deciding to close the Book of Kells exhibition.
The spread of Covid-19 was declared a pandemic on this day, by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Varadkar said there would be more cases and more people would get sick and “unfortunately we must face the tragic reality that some people will die”.
He said we have “not witnessed a pandemic of this nature in living history and we are in uncharted territory”, and “several important and unprecedented measures to protect public health” had been taken.
He said people could continue to work but should work from home where possible. Shops would also remain open at this time and public transport would continue to operate.
“I know that some of this is coming as a real shock,” Varadkar said. “And it’s going to involve big changes in the way we live our lives. And I know that I’m asking people to make enormous sacrifices.”
Speaking at a press conference afterwards at Government Buildings, Tánaiste Simon Coveney said that “never before has such drastic action” been taken in the face of a public health threat.
Supermarkets reported extremely high demand as people emptied the shelves as they bought in bulk. Long queues formed as people sought to get supplies, despite calls from government and the supermarkets themselves not to panic buy.
What came after
The events of 12 March were a watershed. From this date, the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 began to rise sharply.
The pubs shut their doors that weekend and haven’t opened since. Tens of thousands were being put out of work due to the restrictions.
On 16 March, the government established the pandemic unemployment payment at an initial rate of €203 a week. This later rose to €350. By the end of March, almost 400,000 people had applied for the payment.
In his next major speech, on St Patrick’s Day, the Taoiseach warned that the emergency could likely go beyond 29 March and extend into the summer.
“Many of you want to know when this will be over,” he said. “The truth is we don’t know yet.”
As the cases continued to rise, we moved to more strict lockdown measures.
On 24 March, the government announced all non-essential shops were to close.
All theatres, clubs, gyms, leisure centres, hairdressers, betting shops, marts, markets, casinos, bingo halls, libraries and similar outlets were to close.
All sporting events were cancelled, including those behind closed doors. All playgrounds and holiday/caravan parks closed.
“I’m asking people to give meaning to our freedom and liberty by agreeing to these restrictions, restricting how we live our lives, so that others may live,” he said.
Minister for Health Simon Harris had remarked earlier that the measures would seem “surreal” to people.
On that day in March, there were 302 new cases of Covid-19 confirmed. Today there were 13.
A total of 1,705 people have now died from Covid-19 in Ireland and there has been a total of 25,250 cases here.
As the country moves through the phases to re-open the country, the hope going forward is that we won’t see such surreal scenes again.
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I’m from Cork so it doesnt put me up or down but if that was in South Dublin, they definitely wouldn’t just write south Dublin in the headline. You fellas are gas up there in the big Smoke (OOOOOHHHHH!)…
used to count burnt out cars in the same field near Adamstown from my train commute, daily the number could change from two to five or six, then they’d be cleared, few days later same again. need more cameras on roads over here.
I passed the scene of this fire.. It was at a halting site near the NCT centre on the airport side of the M50 beside Silloge golf course. All residents evacuated… Fire tenders and gardai all over the place. Hope no one was hurt or worse.
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