Opinion

Executive has little room to manoeuvre in virus battle

While the executive did manage to agree a list of restrictions last week, albeit with some compromises, Arlene Foster has said that the DUP would have opted for different measures if the party had been left to its own devices.

There is no doubt senior figures within the DUP are unhappy with the direction of travel in the fight against coronavirus, something which agriculture minister Edwin Poots has made abundantly clear.

It is also beyond dispute that the shutdown of hospitality is incredibly difficult for thousands of business owners and employees.

But given the alarming rise in cases and the warnings from medical and scientific officials about the potentially devastating impact of the second wave, we are now in a position whereby our politicians have been left with very little room to manoeuvre.

With cases rising exponentially, governments across Europe are battling to get the virus under control. So far, none have come up with a more palatable solution than varying degrees of lockdown. Even Sweden is moving towards the sort of lockdown restrictions that have become familiar in other countries.

At midnight tonight, people in the Republic will be under measures that are among the toughest in Europe.

The Level Five restrictions, which will see non-essential shops closing and people being asked to stay at home with exercise restricted to a 5km radius, will last for six weeks by which time chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan hopes to see cases falling below 100 per day.

These severe steps were introduced after cases climbed to record levels, yet the rates experienced in the north have been even worse.

In a glimmer of positive news, the chief scientific adviser Professor Ian Young has reported that stringent curbs imposed on the Derry and Strabane council area are having a 'significant impact' while there is the beginning of the slowing of cases across Northern Ireland.

Signs that the localised restrictions brought in last month - which were aimed at stopping households mixing - are starting to work is very encouraging.

The next few weeks will be hard for many of us, there is no getting away from that, but we must hope that when the circuit breaker ends, we will have driven the case numbers down and can have some relaxations in place for the Christmas period.