Banning spectators from outdoor sporting events ‘bizarre’, says professor

Government measures to temporarily ban spectators from outdoor sporting events have been branded “bizarre” when people can continue to congregate in pubs.

Kingston Mills, professor of experimental immunology at Trinity College Dublin, said he did not understand the measure, one of a number of new Covid-19 restrictions introduced on Tuesday.

“[It is] completely bizarre. People are fed up and one of the things that would lift people’s spirits is a bit of live sport,” he said.

“One hundred people in a pub; I know they aren’t social distancing, I have seen them in my local pub...and then you are not allowed to have 50 or 100 people at a football match?”

Differences over pandemic strategy go to the heart of Government

---

Hospital workers in Dublin city to be offered low-cost parking

---

Varadkar and Martin clash at Cabinet as ‘incoherent’ new restrictions criticised

---

What is causing the slowdown in the test and trace system?

---

Prof Mills welcomed some of the Government interventions, including measures intended to protect older people - although he said they would be growing tired of such restrictions - but said he found inconsistencies in the various approaches.

Prof Mills said he was weary of advice for people to avoid public transport.

“We are saying don’t take public transport. I think packed public transport is a huge risk; I think public transport where they are spaced out and wearing masks is maybe less of a risk, but it’s a risk,” he said. However, he added that he did not believe it was an area of great transmission.

“Obviously if people can work from home, they should work from home.”

Prof Mills said the area where gains must be made is in testing. It is not happening quickly enough, he said, and there was now an opportunity to move to rapid testing - with 90 minute processing times - that would not only “completely change the whole dynamic” but would allow for testing at airports and replace the current invasive procedures with saliva samples.

He said there were “half-hearted” efforts at controlling potential transmission via overseas travel.

Prof Sam McConkey of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) said he was not surprised by the need for a further crackdown on social movements and that there was now an argument to pursue a New Zealand-style approach.

“I am glad that we have taken action. It’s clear to me given the numbers are rising that we definitely, as a society, need to take action,” he said.

“Inevitably we were going to relax the restrictions to the extent that we were going to see a rise of some sort.”

However, he said he hoped the latest tranche of moves represented a more “finessed and tailored” approach than the previous lockdown.

Another option, he said, was to follow the lead of New Zealand and apply six to eight weeks of aggressive measures followed by a focus on strictly controlled travel into the country which would allow a greater return to normal living conditions.