Robin Swann: Data for easing lockdown too complex to be made public

Speaking at a Stormont press conference on Wednesday, Mr Swann insisted the ‘pathway to recovery’ agreed by the Northern Ireland Executive on Tuesday will give people a sense of the “direction of travel”.

But he stressed that it is important people are not given “false hope” with opening dates that could change depending on the spread of the virus.

He also suggested the data underlying the decision on when society could be opened up again is too complex and uncertain to make public.

“The time for definitive dates will come,” Mr Swann insisted.

“Of course it will. But some of those demanding a calendar-led approach now would be the first to shout if we gave them dates and then had to alter them because of the progression of the pandemic. This virus is not predictable. It does not follow a pre-planned route map.

“Likewise, I would love to be able to announce a simple mathematical formula on how the data will determine all our decisions.

“There are too many complexities and uncertainties. We cannot offer people false assurance.”

The roadmap produced by the Executive on Tuesday has come in for fierce criticism for the absence of indicative dates, or clear indicators in terms of vaccine numbers, hospital admissions and the transmission of the virusthat could allow reopening.

Mr Swann, however, said there is no “magic formula” that would indicate possible reopening.

He continued: “There are a multitude of measurables there but there is no magic formula that we can simply type into a computer and get an answer that says ‘yes you move forward’.

“It is about looking at those projections and those analyses as well.”