Leading Irish academics – including leading Trinity immunologists Luke O’Neill and Cliona O’Farrelly – have called on the government to adopt a policy aimed at eliminating cases of coronavirus in Ireland, in a stark warning to a country currently taking steps to re-open.
In an open letter, with over 1,000 signatures, academics have warned that Ireland “must not squander” the progress it has made in suppressing the number of coronavirus cases, arguing that re-opening society while cases of the virus still exist will have drastic consequences for both the economy and public health.
They said a government strategy that aims to “get back to ‘normal’ as fast as possible” will cost Ireland far more – in economic and medical terms – than continuing its lockdown in the short-term.
In the letter, addressed to the “two Governments on the island of Ireland” academics criticised the current policy of living with the virus under a “long-term mitigation strategy”.
“We have another option: we can do as many other countries have done, choose to suppress and eliminate this virus – ‘Crushing the Curve’.”
The goal, the letter says, “must be to suppress the number of new cases to zero as soon as possible, and to keep them there”.
It argues that with political leadership and a “scientifically sound strategy”, this goal can be “done in weeks, not months” – allowing Ireland to re-open fully and stave off the long-term effects on an economy that won’t be able to fully get back to normal while cases of the virus exist.
“If we decide to live with the virus, extensive, and expensive, restrictions will continue for the foreseeable future”, the letter warns.
It adds that total suppression of the virus will allow Ireland to “enjoy considerably greater freedoms and prosperity” than a scenario where the virus still exists in the country.
“Given our geography, population size, and social cohesion, suppression is a realistic exit strategy, a genuine way out of our current economic and social standstill.”
Correction: 16:20, June 9th, 2020
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that 1,000 academics had signed an open letter calling for a policy aimed at suppressing the number of cases in Ireland to zero. In fact, the letter had 1,000 signatories, but not all were academics.
