The HSE’s chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry has warned that everyone will have to find a way of living with the “new normal” in the time of COVID-19
Dr Henry said he supports people getting back to work but said that apart from individual responsibility, employers have a responsibility to ensure their employees are safe.
The "new normal" had to include minimum contact, avoiding crowds and close contacts he told Newstalk.
When asked about school uniforms and if it was safer for children to wear their own clothing, Dr Henry said that was a decision for each school, but he felt that if good hand hygiene and social distancing measures were implemented that would be effective.
Dr Henry said that the health service had suffered “an unprecedented shock to the system” and that there will be a fall in capacity as social distancing measures are observed.
Concerns
Of particular concern to Dr Henry was the worrying trend of outbreaks of the virus in congregated settings such as the workplace and social gatherings.
He was also concerned about the number of people declining to be tested when identified as a contact of a person who had contracted the virus: “It is worrying. If you are called you should go for the test.”
Dr Henry pointed out that six to seven per cent of asymptomatic people who had been tested were diagnosed with the virus: “People are not the best judges for themselves if they need the test.”
