Dr. Colm Henry:

The experience in the three counties and particularly in Kildare shows the lesson we have already learned, not just in this country but abroad. Even though we may change, the virus has not. As I said earlier, the evidence is that the virus has not changed. It is not less vicious or transmissible. In an uncontrolled setting the doubling time is a matter of days. A small number of cases can lead to a rapid escalation if uncontrolled and unmitigated. What we saw in Kildare and the other counties to a lesser extent was the hazardous effect of open clusters and how they can seed out into the community, hence the measures that have been continued in Kildare. With an incidence rate over 14 days of 180 per 100,000, that presents a real and immediate threat to widespread community transmission, which is a huge threat to safety, health and well-being and to the continuation of health and education services in Kildare and beyond. Allowing for the fact that counties are not enclosed structures in themselves, it presents hazards to contiguous counties including Dublin. The virus has not changed. It is very transmissible. Outbreaks whether in meat plants, workplace settings or elsewhere, can seed out into the community. That is where it is important to emphasise that for a virus for which there is no treatment and no vaccine, those measures which we all know by heart by now are the first and primary line of defence. When we have outbreaks, rapid identification, isolation of cases and contact tracing represent the second line of defence. That is the work of our public health colleagues and I pay tribute to their diligence in Kildare and beyond.