Lockdowns should be a “last resort” in the fight against Covid, a leading Irish epidemiologist has claimed.
Dr Mike Ryan of the World Health Organisation said other countries have managed to avoid gruelling lockdowns by efficiently containing and managing the virus.
Speaking to C103's Where The Road Takes Me Programme, Dr Ryan said: “Lockdowns are what you do when there's nothing else you can do and they're necessary because of that, but they are a last resort.
“In Europe, we have gone to the last resort three times.”
Dr Ryan described the circumstances facing Ireland as a “remarkably difficult dilemma”, and said we must be smart enough to avoid a fourth wave of the deadly disease.
He said: "Unless you get the virus under control, you don't get your economy back.
"At the same time the physical and mental health and social consequences of lockdowns are such that they're having a massive impact, but remember there are a lot of countries in Asia that never had to go through this.
“From the very beginning, they implemented a comprehensive strategy with high levels of population compliance.
“They've been able to contain this disease and are now using vaccines to prevent further reemergence.
“Can we be smart enough to avoid the fourth surge of death, and our hospitals failing?
“Can we use the vaccines judiciously and properly and can we continue to do the testing and the surveillance and the contact tracing and continue to maintain our physical distance?.”
