A group consisting of mainly GPs - including former Fianna Fáil minister Jim McDaid and the Mater Hospital's infectious disease expert Professor Jack Lambert - has signed a "white paper" questioning what it calls Ireland's "outdated" public health strategies in response to Covid-19. Cavan-based GP Michael McConville is a member of the group and was involved in the development of its white paper. Dr McConville, who agreed the vast majority of its supporters have no background in epidemiology, claimed Nphet should be "disbanded". In its white paper, the group suggests we should end lockdowns and begin "intensive protection of the vulnerable". A "fixation" on the virus has led to "the worst cost-benefit of a public health intervention in living memory", the group claims, with lockdown "significantly undermining" elements of public health and increasing the gap between rich and poor.

Source: Irish Independent November 15, 2020 02:39 UTC