Ireland Could Abandon COVID-19 Phases In Favour Of Colour Coded Response
Speaking on Morning Ireland, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has said that Ireland may move to a colour coded COVID-19 response instead of the already utilised phase system.
According to the Fianna Fail TD, National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) have been discussing the move in order to easily showcase how Ireland is dealing with the virus on any given day.
Whereas phases showcase a time frame for "moving through a period," according to Donnelly, colour codes could be seen as a warning system.
"When the original road map came in there was a timeline attached to it to say these are the conditions we'll deal with now," said the former Social Democrat.
"This is different to that, this says no matter what day of the week it is, no matter what week it is, where are we at now."
The colour codes would consist of four different colours: red, orange, yellow, and blue. If you're a stickler for Met Eireann weather updates, you'll be aware that red = bad. The blue end of the scale represents a point where there is either a vaccine or an effective treatment which can stem the tide of the virus.
Speaking further, Donnelly remarked that he "wasn't concerned" with regard to the resilience of the Irish people.
“The response so far has been spectacular.
“We could be looking at [COVID-19] for nine months, we could be looking at this for two years, we don’t know.”
Taoiseach Micheal Martin also talked about a potential change of tactics in combatting the virus yesterday.
“Like other countries there’s been an increase in numbers so we’ve got to look through and plan ahead of potential scenarios.”
The Cabinet met on Tuesday evening, where they discussed the changes. The plan will be continually mulled over the course of the next week.