The bishops’ intervention marks one of the first times this year that there has been any high-profile lobbying against the Level 5 Covid restrictions, which have been in place since Christmas.
After the horrors of January when Ireland’s daily new case rate per million was the highest in the world and when hospital admissions pushed the system towards breaking point there has been a reluctance from business and hospitality groups to question the lockdown publicly.
Things have changed. Our 14-day case rate per hundred thousand (164.4) is lower than that of France (444.2) and Italy (433.0), albeit higher than Germany’s (137.4). There were 366 patients with Covid in hospital here on Thursday morning, down from a peak of 2,020 on January 18. Questions are beginning to be asked about why Ireland’s restrictions are not being eased. That pressure is intensifying now that frontline healthcare workers as well as residents and staff of nursing homes have been vaccinated.