Public health chief: ‘tight-knit culture’ is helping shield Province from virus

Dr Gerry Waldron, head of health protection at the Public Health Agency, made the remarks in the wake of a News Letter article this week highlighting the fact Northern Ireland’s rate of Covid-19 fatalities is relatively low.

In addition to commenting on the figures, Dr Waldron also said that he envisages current restrictions on public life to be in place for several weeks, at the very earliest.

Asked why Northern Ireland is faring better than the UK generally, Dr Waldron stressed more research needed to be done, and it could be some time before proper analysis can be done.

However, he went on to say that at the time the lockdown began in mid-March Northern Ireland was in a better position than GB because it had fewer cases, so the Province had a “time advantage” over mainland UK.

But Dr Waldron (who originally hails from Co Kerry, but has spent his career working in the UK NHS in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland) also said: “I get the impression that we are better in Northern Ireland at sticking to the social isolation..

“I think it might be something to do with the nature of the society we’re in. Ok, we have a divided society and all that. But we do have, I think, a much more cohesive society than maybe parts of England.

“We have people who are maybe, on all sides, more prone to be looking out for each other... I think they’re maybe more likely to comply with their unusual or unprecedented restrictions on their movements.”

He also said that the relative lack of large cities in Northern Ireland “would be a factor certainly”, adding: “You look at where we’re getting the bulk of our cases – they are happening around the predominately urban areas, Belfast in particular.”

When it comes to when the current restrictions may be lifted, Dr Waldron said: “It’s really, really hard to say. It’s going to be driven by so many things. I think it’s going to last well in to May at least. But what do I know?”

What will aid hugely is if the UK gets antibody tests.

These screen people to see if they have had Covid-19, helping scientists identify those with some degree of immunity and who are no longer infectious.

But this is “a way off” yet, said Dr Waldron.

And as for a vaccine, that goal remains a “long, long way off”.

THE RAW NUMBERS:

NI makes up roughly 2.8% of the UK population.

But it accounts for only about 1% of the Covid-19 deaths in the UK.

And as well as a lower death rate than the UK, the number of overall Covid-19 cases is disproportionately low too.

Out of all UK-wide cases, NI made up 2.27% of the total at time of writing yesterday (as compared with its 2.8% share of the UK population).

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