By Dr. Patrick (Paddy) Wall, professor of public health at University College Dublin

This current outbreak is unprecedented and there is no health service in the world that could cope with it. The Irish health system had very little spare capacity, so this has put it under severe pressure.

Approximately 80% of people who become infected with the coronavirus have a mild flu-like illness, with a variation of the symptoms: fever; cough; or shortness of breath.

However, anyone who is elderly, frail, or has other illnesses that could weaken their immune system, is at risk of getting more severe symptoms and require hospitalisations.

Smokers are also more susceptible to getting severe symptoms. Unusually, children get very mild symptoms if any.

The virus is transmitted by aerosol (coughing or sneezing) or droplet spread.

Droplet spread is when coughs or sneezes result in droplets (effectively micro-snots) landing on surfaces around you; or if you cough into your hands you then have the droplets on your hands and will contaminate utensils, door handles etc – hence, all the advice about the need to keep washing hands and sanitise surfaces.

We need to cocoon the elderly and frail to protect them.

If you are in close contact with somebody who has the disease you can become infected and it can take up to 14 days to fall ill – although most people are falling ill within eight days.

The graphic below is useful in terms of explaining the power of social distancing:

 Image source: SignerLab

This period of time – from exposure to symptoms – is known as the ‘incubation period’ and during this time the virus multiplies and increases to a critical level to trigger symptoms.

The virus also has to multiply to a high level to result in a positive test.

So, if somebody is tested too early in the incubation period they may test negative and receive false reassurance – hence testing is only being offered to people who have symptoms.

Veterinary labs

Most hospital labs are used for testing individual patient’s samples or small numbers of samples – and the HSE has not got the laboratory capacity to process the thousands of people who are requesting tests.

Therefore, it is important that the high-risk patients, and health-care workers, receive priority.

It is likely that some of the major veterinary labs used to processing thousands of samples – like occurs with the BVD program or BSE testing – will come on stream to help out the HSE.

The HSE has recruited the cadets from the Irish Defence Forces to assist with calling cases and close contacts.

Many Government departments are redeploying staff to operate call centres to give information and advice to cases and their close contacts – and most of the higher education institutions are volunteering staff and space to set up satellite call centres.

The HSE has developed standardised training for front-line operators and health professionals who will have to be present in these call centres to handle difficult health-related questions.

The media is doing a great job keeping the public informed and the HSE has a comprehensive website www.hse.ie.

Healthy farmers

We used to bemoan that farming was ‘a lonely job’ and often farmers didn’t see anybody from one day to the next.

However, in these difficult times, maybe farming is currently the best job in Ireland. You can’t catch the virus if you don’t meet anyone to give it to you.

Many farmers go to the mart, or other events, just to meet people and have ‘the craic’; but there will not be much craic if you catch the virus and bring it home to one of your loved ones.

Everyone of us have elderly family members, and friends, or those with illnesses that leave them with compromised immune systems and vulnerable to corona.

We owe it to them not to bring them home the virus.

The male calves have to be sold or we will have a welfare issue; and some other livestock have to be sold also; but perhaps mart attendees will have to be confined to ‘sellers and buyers only’ – and the spectators will have to stay at home.

The health service is under pressure and many GPs are swamped with worried people with respiratory systems, as well as potential corona cases and these two come on top of the GPs’ routine workload.

Many health-care workers in the hospitals have caught the infection and are absent from work. If this continues the ability to care for corona cases, as well as the normal non-corona illnesses, will be compromised.

The farmers have to stay healthy to feed the nation.

It is a difficult time for everyone and everyone has to play their part – many people are now off work not being paid, so it is time for solidarity.

We are all in this together. We need to protect the elderly and frail and the health-care workers and we will get through this.