It will be déjà vu for publicans and restaurant owners in two weeks’ time when they hopefully reopen their doors to indoor trade. Just like last Christmas, they will be dealing with a new and more infectious form of Covid-19.
The country may have been oblivious to the faster-spreading UK variant last year. But this time is everyone is forewarned about the Delta variant that is even easier to catch.
How well they have prepared, and how everyone puts the hard-won lessons on confronting Covid-19 in to practice, will be crucial to safety and staying open.
Ventilation must be key. In poorly ventilated rooms the amount of virus in the air can build up, increasing the chance of spreading Covid-19.
This is particularly the case if there is a number of infected people in the room.
We now know the virus can remain in the air after an infected person has left. So replacing stale air with fresh air, by increasing circulation, cuts the risk of spread. Experts point out that the more fresh air comes in, the quicker any airborne virus will be removed from the room.
Customers and staff may have different symptoms to classic Covid-19 which was characterised by fever, cough and the loss of smell and taste.
In people with the Delta strain, it appears that a runny nose, sore throat and headaches are more commonly reported.
If staff feel they have a summer cold they should go for a test, which is free, at a HSE test centre. Better to not take a chance with this mutant strain.
Remind customers to wear their masks except when eating or drinking.
This should be a much easier exercise than last summer given we have had a year of mandatory mask wearing in shops and on public transport.
We know enough now about how the virus spreads, through an often complex web of interactions. The pub or restaurant might not end up listed as the scene of an outbreak, but it could be part of the chain if public health measures are not followed.
Many of the staff in pubs and restaurants will be too young to have been offered a vaccine.
They will be need to be provided with good-quality masks and have access
to handwashing facilities and hand sanitiser.
The Delta variant is only going to grow here, just as in other countries. It accounted for 20pc of cases last week, but it will probably be higher this week – and those are the cases we know of.
Athlone’s problem today could be that of any parish or town in July.
Public Health England has shown that in the UK cases have doubled between 4.5 and 11.5 days depending on the region. Hospitalisations in the UK due to the Delta variant have risen but they are doing so slowly, and are not keeping pace with the number of cases.
The UK postponed its Freedom Day which would have led to measures such as the radical ending of physical distancing – but it has continued to allow indoor trade to operate for pubs and restaurants.
This should give reassurance here, although there is no room for complacency. Yesterday the UK recorded 11,625 new cases, the highest number since February.
However, for those who have had two doses of Covid-19 vaccine there is very good protection against hospitalisation.
The Pfizer vaccine is 96pc effective against hospitalisation after two doses, while the AstraZeneca vaccine is 92pc effective following the second dose.
It means that the level of risk is not like it was last Christmas – but we are not out of the woods yet.
Visit our Covid-19 vaccine dashboard for updates on the roll out of the vaccination program and the rate of Coronavirus cases Ireland