Professor Paddy Mallon:

I thank the Chairman for his question. One of the most frustrating things about this pandemic has been the comparison of what we are doing versus what is being done in other countries. It is very clear to me from a pandemic scenario that we are unique. We have a unique healthcare capacity, which is lower than in many other countries, and a unique community engagement. When considering the characteristics of how we manage this pandemic, we need to focus on what is required within our country. We can take lessons from other countries but I do not think we are going to be able to pull off the shelf a written end-to-end testing policy or contact tracing policy and say that this is how it is being done in the UK and, therefore, we are going to do the same. I just do not think that is going to work.