My article in today's Indoš
Snippets from long unedited version:
...."Ireland’s adoption of the UK’s “Living with Covid”/survival of the fittest non-strategy is the antithesis of science and doesn’t bear scrutiny.
For example, last week Nphet’s modelling lead, physiologist professor Nolan, claimed “All international evidence says children transmit much less than adults”. What evidence? The international scientific evidence, endorsed by the WHO and ECDC is incontrovertible: Children both catch and transmit Covid and even asymptomatic children may develop Long-Covid which can be debilitating.
This month, the Journal of American Medical Association published
research on the role of primary school children in the transmission of Covid
and found that, where mitigations weren’t in place, they not only spread Covid
more efficiently than adults, they’re the main drivers in the pandemic. Most
transmission occurred between teachers and children within the school, with
spill-over into their households.
Nphet’s denial of the international
evidence led to flawed school guidance which served to fuel the flames of
rising cases. Within weeks of re-opening, there were 200 outbreaks in Irish
schools, overwhelming the test and trace system. Rather than introduce face
masks for primary school children and isolate the whole class to break chains
of transmission, as our European neighbours do, MicheƔl Martin stopped testing.
Removing testing of close contacts in
schools is akin to removing the batteries from a smoke alarm. It doesn’t stop
the fire, it just prevents it being detected until the building is engulfed in
flames. Which is what happened in at least two schools this month alone.
With 35% of students absent due to
Covid, the CBS Primary School Board of Management was forced to move learning
online. Principal Vicky Barron described serious flaws in the HSE guidance
regarding protecting children in schools. She raised concerns that Co2 monitors
are inadequate in overcrowded classrooms with poor ventilation where opening
windows is insufficient to reduce CO2 levels. Principals like Vicky Barron who put
safeguarding staff and children first, are being failed, not just by
government, but by opposition politicians (with the exception
of the Social Democrats) and their unions.
MicheƔl Martin has form when it comes
to science denial. Last December, he dismissed Ireland’s Independent Scientific
Advisory Group’s (ISAG) and Nphet’s warnings against easing restrictions but the
voices of industry prevailed. Within weeks, Ireland ranked worst in the world
as Covid incidence and deaths sky-rocketed. Prolonged school closures and
lockdown ensued.
In January, ISAG urged the government
to impose mandatory hotel quarantine to prevent the importation of new vaccine
escaping variants, something honorary epidemiologist professor Michael
O-fecking-Leary objected to. Winging it on NewsTalk in July, he predicted the
“variant scariant” would be proved bogus because, “Delta would not result in
increased hospitalisations, serious illness and death”. Disinformation. Is.
Dangerous.
In October, there were almost twice as many recorded
deaths as the same time last year when we didn’t have vaccines, 10
hospitals are on Code Red, there’s zero paediatric ICU beds
and 910,000 on hospital waiting lists. And nightclubs/super-spreader events
have re-opened. What could possibly go wrong. Covid is an
airborne disease so why wasn’t re-opening of indoor venues contingent on
installing HEPA filtration and visible CO2 monitors?
Yesterday, a man conscientiously
sanitised his trolley handle and hands outside SuperValu before sauntering in
with his mask under his nose.
Gabriel Scally, president of the
Royal Society of Medicine’s Epidemiology and Public Health, calls this “hygiene
theatre” and says it does little to reduce the spread of Covid. Scally warns of
the urgent need to explain that Covid spreads through the air. “It’s much more
important to have fresh and purified air in schools than to have surfaces
sterilised. If it was coming through our water supply we’d take action, and we
should be taking action with our air supplies.”
Numerous countries have installed
HEPA filtration is schools. In New York City, the ventilation status of every
classroom is published on a website, and classrooms must have at least two
functioning methods of ventilation. Belgium is mandating that all public
buildings display their CO2 levels.
Nphet’s expert advisory group, made
recommendations for safe indoor air standards in February which weren’t adopted
by government. Assistant Professor Orla Hegarty was a member of the committee.
She advises that the safe recommended levels of CO2 should not exceed
800ppm and
that plug in HEPA filtration systems (no
ions, plasma or ozone), coupled with mask wearing by
school children of all ages, would reduce the risk of pupils contracting Covid
by 90pc.
Why have these inexpensive safeguards
not been implemented? Where are the sheltered outdoor areas for children to
have lunch? Where is the political will to protect citizens and end this
pandemic?
“Living with Covid” means accepting
that around 2,000 people a year will die from a preventable disease (compared
to 150 road deaths deemed unacceptable), that it’s fine for children to become
infected and potentially suffer multi-organ failure, that our vulnerable will
be shielding indefinitely and our beleaguered health service, followed by the
economy, will collapse.
That’s not science, that’s really bad
politics. Irish citizens did not consent to that.
