An Irish health expert has today said a rise in cases amid the spread of the Delta variant is ‘inevitable’ as we see more restrictions easing, but insisted that slowing the reopening is not the answer to our problems.
Professor of Infectious Diseases at UCD, Jack Lambert confirmed that with a reopening, of course the virus will circulate more, but with high uptake in the vaccine rollout and many having recently recovered, the impacts won’t be as severe.
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Mr Lambert said: 'We've been the slowest to reopen in almost all the world in terms of what we've been doing.
"It's not just about the numbers.
"If you look at what's happened in the UK now, we're seeing increasing numbers but 90% less serious cases ending up in hospital.
"We're in a different situation now than before, and we have to actually learn from our mistakes."
The professor then added that we need to learn to live with Covid rather than shutting down society to curb the impacts.
He added: "There are ways to live safely with Covid rather than just saying, hold on, slow down the numbers are increasing.
"You can't plan for having a reopening of our hospitality industry and our travel industry by having this 'yes but no but yes', changing every day based on numbers, because the numbers are not translating into impact in the hospitals."
Meanwhile, pubs and restaurants are due to welcome customers back indoors before the end of next week according to the latest plans released by the government.
While many working in the hospitality industry will welcome the return of indoor service, those working in nightclubs will have to wait 'some time' according to Tánaiste Leo Varadkar.
Almost two million EU Digital Covid Certs began being circulated yesterday in Ireland, with those who are vaccinated receiving them by email or post.
Those who receive their certs before the end of next week will be among the first to experience indoor dining in pubs and restaurants since 2020, as the pass will be utilised for the hospitality sector too.
