Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have several questions and the first has two parts. One of the problems with masks is that when we go to buy them, we do not know what quality they are, and there is no CE mark or quality assurance mark that I can find that will give certainty about the mask someone wants to purchase. I make that point in the context that the WHO is now saying that those over 60 must have medical grade masks, which is a huge change in approach given the age cohort it was talking about before was the over-70s. Is there a new and emerging risk for people over 60? If they are required to wear these masks for all social interaction or for shopping - I know they do not wear them at home or in the open - it will be a huge burden, particularly on low income people, to get the masks and to wear them. I assume a person would need hundreds over a year.

My second question is in regard to deaths in nursing homes. I am glad Dr. Nabarro is the expert. As I understand it from an article in The Guardian, there were no deaths in nursing homes in Hong Kong. It appears the way they dealt with it was that if a person was Covid-positive, they went from a nursing home into an acute hospital or into medium-term isolation. In order to prevent this awful, evil virus coming back and attacking and killing people in our nursing homes, is there a need for best practice to emanate from the WHO to make sure we change the way we deal with people who are positive, and that we do not keep them in nursing homes if it is better that they go to an acute hospital or a different type of isolation?

In Ireland, more than 60% of our nursing homes do not conform to all the regulations. While I accept and acknowledge that the virus can strike anywhere at any time, international best practice should be that whatever the standards are in any country for nursing homes, those nursing homes should meet 100% of those regulations to save lives.