Not the time for spin: Key questions about response to pandemic that must be answered

But as the country faces yet more lockdown after weeks of sacrifice, questions are also being asked about key areas of our response.

1. It appears there was an undeniable delay in recognising the extent of the spread of infection in nursing homes. Why was there not action taken earlier?

The virus has had a devastating effect among these elderly residents, who account for half of deaths so far. Many homes complain of being ignored while struggling for weeks to contain the spread and trying to cope with a lack of staff, guidance and protective wear.

Mater Hospital infectious disease consultant Dr Jack Lambert has criticised the lack of "boots on the ground" in the form of experienced medics and redeployment of nurses from the public service. How many older people have died unnecessarily as a result?

2. Why are we not testing more people?

The original promise was that 15,000 tests a day would be carried out.

But that will not be possible until the middle of May and there are still question marks over whether that will be delivered.

There has been a lack of swabs and laboratory agents due to worldwide demand. But we are told those shortages are now fixed.

Yet the criteria for testing is still too narrow, many infected people and their contacts are being missed and asymptomatic people who can infect others are not being tracked. There could be more hidden clusters.

3. There is a need for staff, not just in nursing homes and community residential facilities but some hospital units. Why are just 54 of the 73,000 health workers who answered the 'Be On Call for Ireland' drive working at this point?

Highly qualified workers who applied and have been accepted describe a tortuous process of trying to find out where they stand with unanswered calls and emails.

4. Are we being given reliable information?

When decisions are being made that rank among some of the most far-reaching in decades, affecting people's health and livelihoods, there is no excuse for a failure to be transparent.

While the Department of Health has daily media briefings, and the HSE stages a weekly briefing, all documents, particularly the minutes of the National Public Health Emergency Team - vested with such power - need to be promptly published for scrutiny.

This is no time to use the mask of spin.

5. Why are so many private hospitals, temporarily taken over by the State, lying idle while the taxpayer pays them €115m a month.

Less than one-third of the beds are occupied. Yet hundreds of thousands of public patients whose procedures and surgeries have been postponed since early March are desperate for treatment. The HSE wrangle with private consultants, asking them to sign a contract to become public doctors in response to the crisis, has been allowed to drag on.

Both sides need to compromise to relieve some of the health timebomb of untreated public and private patients.

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