Professor Cillian Twomey:

The answer is there is no difference, but it was not the nursing homes that were the issue. It was the frail older people who are in nursing homes and happen to be at risk. The concern is greater if one has a setting in which there is a larger number, such as in a bigger facility in which more frail older people are congregated.

If the virus gets in, that is the key issue. If the virus gets in, it is almost impossible to stop it spreading, unless one is right on the case in terms of the preparedness we discussed earlier. I agree totally. It is not the case that public was better and private was worse. Both were equally affected. But in my view, by having people who are vulnerable and frail in large congregating settings in the first place, public or private, that puts them at risk that need not be, if we begin to think of alternative models for the future.