Time to consider if Level 5 restrictions may be becoming counter-productive?

Sensible people are sick of Level 5

TIME TO CONSIDER IF LEVEL 5 RESTRICTIONS ARE BECOMING COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE?

Jim Power

We have just endured our second successive Saint Patrick’s Day in a regime of strict lockdown. Personally, I found this year’s much more depressing than last year, when there was some sense of novelty, and of course we had no real idea what was coming down the tracks. Alas, a year later we seem stuck in a permanent state of lockdown, and one would be tempted to consider the possibility that those wielding the power are not terribly bothered about restricting our lives, our livelihoods, our personal freedom, and our sanity.

A Sky News headline early in the morning of the national feast day to the effect that all those over 50 in the UK are now on the brink of being offered a vaccine set the tone for my general mood over the remainder of the day. This comes a few days after President Biden declared that every US adult would be eligible for a vaccination by May 1st, and that the aim is to return to normality on July 4th. Independence Day in every sense of the word. Israel is getting back to normal and its ‘green pass’ appears to be working a treat. In many other countries around the world, social and other activities are being gradually switched on again.

Meanwhile, here in Ireland the vaccine rollout could politely be described as pathetic. A similar description could be applied to the EU situation. The decision to cede national sovereignty to the EU in relation to the procurement of vaccines is not playing out well, and it is difficult to be terribly confident that that situation will turn around anytime soon. A political price will be paid for this apparent incompetence.  

One of the lowest of many low points for me in recent weeks was the urging from Government Minister, Patrick O’Donovan that people should ‘drown the shamrock with water’ rather than alcohol on Saint Patrick’s Day. He went on to suggest that it was a ‘massive failure’ that the sale of alcohol was not ‘dealt with’ before Christmas.

Regardless of one’s views on the evils or otherwise of alcohol, it is utterly bizarre that a Government minister would come out with such statements. Those who would consume alcohol and go out and ‘misbehave’ in any event, will just ignore and laugh at such comments. Those of us who have been compliant throughout the health crisis, will just be angered and disillusioned by such an attempt to really hammer us into submission with such ‘nanny statism’. We are adults, and it is time that the powers that be acknowledged this fact and leave us get on with our lives.

Every Sunday morning, we order takeaway breakfast and drive 2 km to collect it, and we find ourselves regularly being stopped and asked where we are going and what we are having for breakfast. I really resent this invasion of my privacy and liberty, particularly as weddings and funerals are taking place in parts of the country with no regard to health directives, and yet nothing is apparently done about it. The soft touches are being picked on again, but in Irish society, that should not come as a surprise. Sensible people might pause a while and consider the potential longer-term implications of the powers of self determination and liberty that we have ceded, and the dangerous precedent that this might create down the road. Perhaps my recent re-reading of 1984 has turned me into a paranoid subject!

The worrying thing now is that we have been subjected to Level 5 restrictions since the end of December, and infection rates have bottomed out at relatively high levels and are starting to trend up again. Based on the logic that NPHET and Government have used to date, this means that we could remain in Level 5 lockdown for months to come.

The reality is that many people have just reached breaking point and will increasingly broaden their range of activities, regardless of what the powers that be dictate. I think it is worth considering if a continuation of Level 5 restrictions is starting to become increasingly counter-productive. I certainly sense it is.

Government policy is being dictated by NPHET. NPHET was given a very one-dimensional mandate relating to COVID-19, and was not given any mandate to even consider broader issues relating to business, the economy or society. NPHET also did not have any members with business acumen. The Government in the main, went along with the recommendations of NPHET, with a few exceptions.

The imposition of serious restrictions on social and economic activity has been the favoured approach of Government, on the back of recommendations from NPHET. Government failed to put in place proper testing and tracing, or rapid antigen testing, but largely relied on a scorched earth policy of rolling lockdowns.

No attempt was made by the authorities to do a proper risk assessment analysis of different sectors of the economy or different activities. It also did not assess in any scientific way the impact of policies pursued on the economic, social, and health wellbeing of the country.  There has there been no attempt to do a cost benefit analysis of the approach pursued by Government.

There is strong evidence to suggest that the economic, social and health costs of the approach taken by Government has outweighed the benefits. There has to be an understanding that the Government approach to COVID-19, based on rolling lockdowns and significant restrictions, has had and is continuing to have immense economic, financial, social, and health consequences. The Government approach will have many long-term consequences that will only become apparent over time. Meanwhile, we will just have to get on with it and try not to become too angry when ministers spout nonsense of the type we were subjected to this week