Government’s Medium-Term Covid-19 Plan

The Government published its long awaited medium-term plan for living alongside COVID-19 for the next six to nine months. The framework, entitled “Resilience & Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID-19” comes at a critical juncture for the country which has recorded a twelve fold increase in weekly confirmed cases over the past seven weeks.

A rough start

Plagued by widespread confusion over its messaging in recent weeks, Micheál Martin’s administration will be hoping it can regain control over the narrative. Since its inception, the coalition government has been on the backfoot and the Department of Health has been in a permanent state of firefighting in how it has responded to a resurgence of the coronavirus.

The Government can’t afford to take many more hammer blows and will hope the medium-term plan will give it the breathing space to regain its footing and move to a more proactive approach in its communication. The Taoiseach noted that; “We’re not yet able to make COVID-19 a part of our past.” He will be hoping to put the early mistakes of his new administration firmly in the past but as Dublin heads towards Level 3 restrictions, the anger is palpable at what appears to be gross mishandling of reopening measures.

Clear communications

Above all, the publication of the plan seeks to provide business and the public with a sense of certainty as to the future trajectory of any further localised or national restrictions. The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) will decide as to whether restrictions will be eased or tightened in an individual county or region. The plan sets out some of the criteria which will be used to determine such public health advice including the “14-day and 7-day cumulative, 5 day rolling average of cases by county and nationally.”

Like with its plan to safely reopen schools, the success of this policy will be determined in its application over the coming weeks. Government ministers and backbenchers will need to sing with one voice, and it will be critical to establish formal mechanisms for consultation and engagement with industry. Anomalies will need to be ironed out without delay and consistency at all times will be key. On improving its communication, the plan commits to the following:

• The updated decision-making framework and communications plans will ensure that there will be ample opportunity for timely and comprehensive stakeholder information giving
• The gov.ie/COVID pages are being reviewed with the goal of providing easier navigation to the relevant information.
• A structured calendar or briefings will be agreed involving relevant Ministers following specific Cabinet decisions, bi-weekly NPHET disease updates and a weekly official update on overall developments and implementation of the new Roadmap
• The Crisis Communications Committee will continue to meet to ensure maximum co-ordination between cross-government and sectorally-led campaigns and communications.

Summary of new medium-term framework

The plan has three main principles:

• Protecting health
• Strengthening employment
• Supporting communities

On travel, the Government has committed to support the EU Commission’s plan around foreign travel which is expected to be finalized next month. In the interim, the Government’s green list of countries will be updated to reflect the European-Union wide traffic-light system. Countries with an incidence rate of less than 25 cases per 100,000 population will be allowed on the green list.

As was widely reported, the plan introduces a new five level alert system. Here is a brief summary of what each level entails:

Level 1	Social and family gatherings – You can have up to 10 visitors from up to 3 households. Organised indoor gatherings – Up to 200 patrons are allowed for larger venues where strict 2 metre seated social distancing and one-way controls for entry and exit can be implemented. Sports – A maximum of 100 spectators can attend indoor matches or games. -A maximum of 200 spectators can attend outdoor matches or games. -Up to 500 spectators can attend outdoor stadia or other fixed outdoor venues with a minimum accredited capacity of 5,000. Work – Work from home if possible
Level 2	Social and family gatherings – Visitors from one other household only or up to 6 visitors from 2 other households or 3 other households. Organised indoor gatherings – Up to 50 patrons are permitted and in pods or groups of up to 6 if appropriate, with arrangements to ensure no intermingling of groups. -Up to 100 patrons are permitted for larger venues where strict 2 metre seated social distancing and one-way controls for entry and exit can be implemented. Organised outdoor gatherings – Up to 100 patrons are permitted for the majority of venues. –Up to 200 patrons for outdoor stadia or other fixed outdoor venues with a minimum accredited capacity of 5,000 (with robust protective measures as per sectoral guidance). Sports – up to 100 patrons/spectators outdoors and 50 patrons/spectators indoors – up to 200 for outdoor stadia or other fixed outdoor venues with a minimum accredited capacity of 5,000 Work – Work from home if possible. If you can work from home, you are advised to only attend work for essential on-site meetings, inductions and training
Level 3	Social and family gatherings – Visitors from one other household only OR your own household only. Organised indoor gatherings – No organised indoor gatherings should take place. Organised outdoor gatherings – Gatherings of up to 15 people can take place Sports – No matches or events to take place. Exemption: professional/elite/inter-county/club championship/horse-racing can take place behind closed doors. Work – Work from home unless absolutely necessary to attend in person. Domestic travel – Stay in your county (or other defined geographical area) apart from work, education and other essential purposes, if appropriate.
Level 4	Social and family gatherings – No visitors. Organised indoor gatherings – No organised indoor gatherings should take place. Organised outdoor gatherings – Gatherings of up to 15 people can take place Sports – No matches or events to take place. Exemption: professional/elite/inter-county/club championship/horse-racing can take place behind closed doors. Work – Only essential or other designated workers should go to work. Domestic travel – Stay in your county (or other defined geographical area) apart from work, education and other essential purposes
Level 5	Social and family gatherings – No visitors. Organised indoor gatherings – No organised indoor gatherings should take place. Organised outdoor gatherings – No outdoor gatherings Sports – No matches or events to take place. Work – Only essential or other designated workers should go to work. Domestic travel – Stay at home and exercise within 5 kilometres of home

Keeping schools open is a ‘top priority’ of the Government with schools and creches remaining open at all five levels.

The entire country is now considered to be at level two with additional restrictions imposed for Dublin.

A new oversight group chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of an Taoiseach, Martin Fraser, will meet weekly to provide advice to the Government on the strategic economic and social policy responses to the management of the disease and to consider advice from NPHET. Its membership will include relevant Government Departments, the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Executive of the Health Service Executive