Policy-makers have some hard choices ahead as coronavirus continues to spread

Safeguarding the public by minimising infections and providing the best care possible for anyone unlucky enough to be severely affected by SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 is their first priority. There may come a time in the near future, however, when the coronavirus outbreak becomes uncontainable. It will be at this point our political leaders may have to take steps that will lead to a slowdown in an already slow local economy. This week the OECD forecast that global economic growth is set to weaken this year and recover gradually in 2021 as a direct result of the shock that the coronavirus caused to the powerhouse Chinese economy. The People’s Republic shut down entire cities in its efforts to stop the spread of novel COVID-19.

Beijing’s decisiveness in slowing the rate of infection has been described by Professor Samuel McConkey, Head of the Department of International Health and Tropical Medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, as ‘heroic’. Prof. McConkey said it helped other countries with less developed infrastructure get their acts together before the illness arrived on their shores.

If we move from a ‘containment’ phase to a ‘mitigation’ phase here decision-makers in Derry, Belfast, Dublin and London, may have to take some drastic steps to protect public health. If that happens our own economy could suffer. There are signs some sectors, especially tourism and hospitality, are already feeling the strain. If sports fixtures and festivals have to be cancelled and travel restricted over the coming months we may reflect on why that’s the case by recalling the old word, ‘Is fearr an tsláinte ná na táinte - health is better than wealth.’ But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.