An expert tasked with measuring the spread of the Covid-19 for the National Public Health Emergency Team has said that since restrictions began to be eased on 18 May, all indicators suggest there has been no significant increased spread of the virus.

An expert tasked with measuring the spread of the Covid-19 for the National Public Health Emergency Team has said that since restrictions began to be eased on 18 May, all indicators suggest there has been no significant increased spread of the virus.
Professor Philip Nolan, chair of the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group for NPHET, said this shows that Irish people “have learned how to go about their business and not spread this virus”.Prof Nolan said that individual responsibility will be central to continued suppression of the virus.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he urged people to continue to maintain social distancing, exercise hand and cough hygiene, to wear face coverings, and to self-isolate and contact their GP if showing symptoms, for testing and tracing.
He said if this is done successfully it is possible over time “in a cautious manner” to rebuild many activities and not spark off further waves of infections.
However, he said that any step forward carries a risk and requires constant monitoring.
Prof Nolan said there is always going to be a risk and for a long time into the future we will have to limit social and physical contacts to what is necessary for our wellbeing and to restart the economy.
He said the virus will decline if community infections remain low and the reproduction rate of the virus is kept below one.
Half of the cases emerging now are contacts of known cases, for example in households, he said.
In relation to easing restrictions, Prof Nolan said the Chief Medical Officer and other members of NPHET are observing what happens in other countries.
He said it takes time for a disease to re-emerge – and different cultures and countries in Europe behave differently so we need to be careful in comparing behaviours.
He said in relation to schools that class and school structures vary across countries and this gives us useful evidence and information but he said we must be careful in jumping to any conclusions.