The Covid-19 pandemic may be in the past, but for a great many people the associated trauma will resurface all too easily on this five-year anniversary of Ireland’s first lockdown, announced from Washington DC by then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Older people all too often died in appalling circumstances of isolation. For others, “long Covid” took years to see off or still lingers, diminishing their quality of life.
Those at the frontline, looking after patients and maintaining essential services, were often forced to work under intolerable conditions. Yet they helped curtail deaths when many other countries failed to apply the necessary rigorous controls and coordination across society. This was reinforced by public understanding and acceptance of what needed to be done.
Pandemics by their nature involve troublesome variants of a virus that becomes more virulent and more transmissible as it spreads. Covid lived up to form, respected no border and showed little mercy. In Ireland, more than 10,000 people died.
Ireland’s response, while far from perfect, compares relatively favourably with other countries in the developed world. Vaccine uptake was impressive, with an relative absence of the misinformation that dominated social media elsewhere.
Development of a range of vaccines saved millions of lives, though internationally their distribution was marred by unfairness; the rich got their dose, the rest had to make do. Despite what US president Donald Trump and his anti-public health acolytes claim, they were highly effective and timely. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was rolled out in less than 12 months. Covid-19 also demonstrated how flexibility at scale can be achieved through remote working, enabling economies to soldier on; it is a trend that is probably here to stay, at least in some form.
Ireland is fortunate in having a strong sense of public trust in scientists and doctors, though the healthcare system has persistent capacity issues and unacceptable delays in providing basic services. The lack of intensive care beds while Covid raged epitomised such problems.
After much delay, the Government has decided to “evaluate” rather than interrogate its handling of the pandemic. There is much to reflect on, given the handling of the lockdowns, the manner with which – early in the pandemic – nursing homes were cut adrift and the failure to introduce mandatory wearing of face masks soon enough.
The inquiry should not demonise those who were working under immense stress, trying to control an emerging disease with no history to inform treatment, nor should it come with bitter recrimination, as seen in the UK. It must be sufficiently robust, however, to address all the issues, while enabling improved preparedness for the inevitable next pandemic.
