Sir, – In Ireland, three lockdowns, with resultant sacrifice imposed on citizens and businesses, have successfully lowered infection rates, and for a weary public, the vaccination programme represents the light at the end of the tunnel.
However, people are curious about what life will be like after lockdown.
During the pandemic, there have been many contentious issues, such as delays in securing personal protective equipment, risk assessment in residential care, a hesitant approach to vaccination roll-out, and late and inconclusive decisions about airport travel safety and quarantine.
Given the fact that the Government was sometimes playing catch-up and accused of more talk than action, it is now timely to begin to discuss and plan for transition out of Covid-19. There is now an opportunity for Nphet and the HSE to direct the post-Covid phase, with a transparent plan to advise, inform and reassure people.
There are many potential areas for discussion in planning for post-Covid-19, not least an opportunity for a national catharsis through consultation, with deep reflection on life in pandemic times, which included loss of life, sickness and family disruption.
Mental health support must be a resourced outcome, as there are residual issues of anxiety and most likely post-traumatic stress disorder.
Lessons must be learned, and it is important that a research-based evaluation project be set up to examine pandemic planning, actions and responses of Nphet and other national committees, the HSE, and the Department of Health and the Government.
The evaluation should be comprehensive and incorporate all elements of the management of Covid-19, including the overall national strategy, levels of restriction, lockdowns, institutional settings – nursing homes and disability care, decisions about schools, and the overall communications strategy.
A transparent plan for exit from the pandemic is the least that people deserve after invasive restrictive measures, sickness, and family deaths, all of which will remain in the minds of people as they return to a new normal, whatever that is. – Yours, etc,
SEAMUS COWMAN,
Professor Emeritus,
Royal College
of Surgeons in Ireland,
Dublin 2.