Professor Sam McConkey has warned living with Covid in phase two is like having a tiger in the house, saying: “it will come back and bite you.”
The leading coronavirus expert said that we should aim to “crush the curve” in the latest round of lockdowns, “even better” than we did in April and May.
He said that we have to do this because, “the alternative is multiple regular waves here, of infection, disease and death, and disability.”
Some of the country’s top academic experts on viruses are before the Oireachtas Covid committee on Wednesday morning.
They include Professor McConkey from the RCSI , Dr Thomas Ryan of Trinity College and UCD’s Professor Kirsten Schaffer.
Professor McConkey compared Covid to a wild tiger.
He said: “An analogy here is, living with Sars2 (Covid-19) and the community transmission is like living with a large tiger in your house, it will come back and bite you, none of us would do it.”
Professor McConkey outlined three steps to get Covid under control.
He said: “1) Bring number of cases down – through social and physical distancing, the only tool that we have for now, not flatten the curve, not just push the curve down, but crush the curve completely into the ground, better even that last time in May and June
"2) Keep cases down – Thoroughly preventing all spread from outbreaks by testing and detailed contact tracing – add sequencing, face-to-face contacts, pop-up testing, mobile teams, local teams of contact tracing, isolation, quarantine, local leadership, and
"3) Prevent re-introduction into Ireland: controls of incoming travellers, testing, home visits, quarantines.”
