Leading scientist says a second lockdown in the country is inevitable unless there is a radical change in government strategy. The Trincomalee College Pro-Chancellor, Prof. David McConnell said the government had failed to conduct further tests to detect Covid viruses.
The professor said he did not think local lockdowns would be beneficial. ‘This will cause another complete-lock down in winter…I think we will lose control soon,’ he said.
He also criticized the approach of the NPHET. According to him their approach leads to an alarming situation of the social and political repercussions. He said that the team’s approach is like a tactician. Declare a lock down, rest and continue this process. He said that that this would create a serious situation that would weaken public’s confidence on the government.
Half of the country’s population is in Dublin; it’s very sad to think that they are moving toward a serious situation, because the government cannot be expected to make any stronger moves.
Together with other leading academic experts, Prof. McConnell was aiming for a large-scale testing and detection aimed at eradicating the virus. But the government didn’t support them.
He said that ‘We might not be able to eliminate the virus in the absolute sense but we can have a policy of eliminating the virus. That’s something entirely different.’
Prof. McConnell quoted the example of New Zealand. It is still struggling with its first cluster after 100 days of zero community transmission. ‘They are really throwing everything at it and they will get this cluster down to zero. We’re nowhere near that and I wish we were,’ he said.
‘If we had a situation whereby we were having one or two eruptions every now and then, I’d be very happy, but that’s not what we have. We have multiple clusters arising all over the country every day and I don’t have any sense that those are being ring-fenced in the way the New Zealanders are doing it.’ He added.
Multiple clusters are emerging every day across the country. It is unbelievable that the government roadmap, which will be released tomorrow, will include measures to intensify inspections for the next six months.
Therefore, it seems that a second national lockdown will be needed to contain the virus. It will take us to 10 cases a day and at that time, if there is a strong test, it can be delivered to a single unit per day.
“There is no other way to stop Covid until a common vaccine is found,” he said.