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YOU MAY HAVE heard the phrase “circuit breaker” mentioned in regards to Covid-19 discussions over the past week.
On Tuesday, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar told his parliamentary party meeting that the idea of a “circuit breaker” lockdown cannot be ruled out.
The meeting was told that a circuit breaker was not contained in the current government roadmap for Living with Covid-19, and that it would need to be planned for.
Other senior government sources have also said that ‘circuit break’ restrictions are “not off the table”.
So, what exactly is a ‘circuit breaker’ and where did the idea originate?
The idea of a ‘circuit breaker’ is a short, sharp period of tightened restrictions intended to curb a rise in coronavirus cases.
The temporary lockdown in New Zealand is seen by some as circuit break that gave contact tracers the time to get on top of case numbers.
The term ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown originates from Singapore, where it tried the measure in April during the height of the first wave of coronavirus.
People will be most familiar with the phrase being used in electrical terms: a circuit breaker is a device which can stop the flow of electricity around a circuit by switching itself off if anything goes wrong.
Did NPHET recommend the circuit breaker method?
Last Sunday, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan wrote to the government recommending the entire country move to Level 5.
Dr Holohan did not explicitly mention the term circuit breaker in the letter, and hasn’t since.
However, in the letter Dr Holohan recommended that the government apply Level 5 – the highest level of measures – across the country “for a period of four weeks”. Arguably, this could be seen as being somewhat akin to a circuit breaker.
Following a meeting the next day between Dr Holohan and the Taoiseach, the talk in government circles was that NPHET tried to ‘bounce the government into a circuit breaker situation without consultation’.
On Monday evening, Varadkar told RTÉ presenter Claire Byrne that what NPHET was proposing in the Level 5 advice was a circuit breaker.
He said it had not been tried anywhere in Europe, including some countries that have much higher cases that Ireland.
The “short, sharp shock” is a bid to stop the transmission of the disease suddenly, explained Varadkar. Nonetheless, he said he didn’t believe NPHET’s idea “had been thought through properly”.
Varadkar said a number of questions were posed to the NPHET team at the meeting on Monday, such as how long would the Level 5 period last for? What would happen if it didn’t work – would the strategy be abandoned?
He said they also asked the public health experts if the schools would remain open, saying that the Taoiseach and ministers were not sure they could be.
Varadkar said NPHET had not contemplated any of the questions it was asked.
“We need to plan for this kind of thing,” he said.
Has it worked elsewhere in the world?
Senior sources have said a circuit breaker is being considered. But whether it works in other countries which are implementing such circuit breaks is something that’s being watched closely.
Sources have said that circuit breaker options should be looked at in Ireland, but that they also need to be thought through. There are concerns in Ireland that there is no Plan B if a circuit breaker move does not work.
Government sources have said attention should be given to when it would be best to implement, how long would it last, what other places have had success and what doesn’t work before any sort of move is contemplated.
Some point to Israel and Melbourne cases as examples of circuit breaks.
However, serious concerns have been raised about the time period of both those cases, with one source saying that Melbourne’s attempt of some kind of circuit break began on 7 July and it is still not over.
On 7 July, after 191 new cases were recorded, Melbourne was put under lockdown for a period of six weeks. However, restrictions remained in place for longer.
Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, became the epicentre of Australia’s second wave after security bungles led to the virus escaping from hotels used to quarantine travellers returning from overseas.
On 28 September, an overnight curfew in place in Melbourne was lifted. This curfew was first imposed on 2 August.
The relaxation came after 16 new infections and two deaths were reported in Victoria and the state’s active cases fell below 400 for the first time since 30 June.
Looking at Israel, the country imposed a second nationwide lockdown on 18 September, which was to last for three weeks, to tackle one of the world’s highest coronavirus infection rates.
The new restrictions saw a significant backlash from the public, with protests being held around the country.
Last week, the Israeli parliament approved a law restricting demonstrations as part of a coronavirus-related state of emergency. However, protests remain ongoing.
As noted above, the term ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown originates from Singapore.
This approach was implemented on 3 April, when Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said it was time to apply such a measure to halt the virus’s spread. It should be noted that this is the first time Singapore went into lockdown, so it’s not too dissimilar to Ireland’s approach at that time.
In the week that followed, all non-essential workplaces closed, all schools transitioned to home-based learning and all food establishments were only permitted to offer takeaway.
This circuit breaker was initially due to end on 4 May, however Loong announced on 21 April that it was being extended to 1 June as a result of an increase in case numbers.
“The number of new cases in the local community has levelled off, to below 30 new cases daily. This is the result of the circuit breaker, and all of us working together. But as you know, our total case numbers have risen sharply since the last time I spoke to you, just 10 days ago,” Loong said on 21 April.
It’s still too soon to know if circuit breaker lockdowns work as there isn’t widespread study into the usage of it. However, it does appear to be close to the types of lockdowns already implemented in March/April.
Northern Ireland
Covid-19 cases have risen dramatically in Northern Ireland over the past week. Over the past 24 hours, there have been 1,080 further cases of the virus confirmed in the North, a new record.
The North’s Minister for Finance Conor Murphy has said the Northern Executive might have to look at circuit breaker restrictions, adding it would be preferable if this happened on an all-island basis.
Yesterday morning, Taoiseach Micheál Martin spoke to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson about the rising number of cases on both sides of the Irish border.
Martin said the two leaders did not discuss introducing an island-wide “circuit breaker” short-term tightening of restrictions.
“The UK has its own issues and challenges in relation to regional approaches that it is adopting to the Covid situation,” he added.
He said: “It was really around the idea of supporting the North in whatever measures the First Minister and Deputy First Minister might decide to take and highlighting the concerns about the growing numbers in the North and the need for coordination. But also, critically, also supports.”
The Prime Minister recently told the BBC he will provide extra resources to help the Stormont executive fight a second wave of coronavirus.
He said he will work with First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill if they opt for a “circuit breaker”.
With reporting by Christina Finn, Press Association and AFP
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If it happens it happens we will deal with it then. Can’t worry about things that might happen. Life is too short. This country used to pull together and stand up for each other be it when Ireland were playing under Jack Charlton or The workers from Dunnes taking to the picket line. Now this country is falling apart and everyone seems out for themselves the not my problem attitude. I want the old Ireland back !!!
@gary mullen: has your income been affected?
@Damien McDaid: yes my income has majorly been effected mainly down to the restrictions, I can’t work the job I do in person so trying my best to do it online if and where I can. But I can walk, I can dress myself, I can speak and I’m thankful for these little things in life.
@gary mullen: It’s a global problem and the sooner a vaccine is released the better.
@Twitruser2020: yes, it’s global and yes the sooner it can be stopped the better. However the point I was trying to make is that it has changed the attitude of the people of Ireland. It has changed the attitude towards each other, it’s turning people against others. Wear a mask don’t wear a mask that’s up to you but nobody has the right to condem another person in this country for doing the opposite of what they do or what they believe. That is ruining this country. The scare mongering, the theories, the fear that’s being spread the blame that’s being passed around. It’s killing Ireland from within Ireland.
@gary mullen: Wouldn’t it be great to go back to high unemployment and emigration?. Back then, you didn’t have to decide what is right and wrong, the Catholic church would do it for you
@Mickety Dee: Not really sure where you are going with that one.
@Damien McDaid: you want to decide on lockdowns based on people’s income?
@Damien McDaid: exactly. Financially, there are 2 camps. One, who’s income and earning power is total dependent on weather their business/ workplace can stay open during these levels of restrictions/ lockdowns. Two, those who is doesn’t affect in the slightest financially wise.
@Damien McDaid: exactly. Financially, there are 2 camps. One, who’s income and earning power is total dependent on weather their business/ workplace can stay open during these levels of restrictions/ lockdowns. Two, those which is doesn’t affect in the slightest financially wise.
@gary mullen: wishing you the best of luck in your work
@gary mullen: what’s killing Ireland is the way we’re being forced to live. Living in fear of this virus. Not ‘turning against’ each other.
The months between March and August were a nightmare for many – me included. I had teenagers at home getting more despondent by the day, with little to look forward to. I didn’t stop working, so had a income. I’m grateful for that. But feel so much for young people. They’re not vulnerable and are being treated as a problem that needs to be isolated. They’re the ones who’ll suffer when our economy tanks. They’re the ones who need their peers more than any other group. We can’t sacrifice their present any more.
@gary mullen: thanks Gary, I love your positive attitude. Keep it up. Spread the love
@Paul Dolan: thanks Paul and the same to you. Fingers crossed we come out the other side having learned something and more prepared for the future.
@Mickety Dee: Depends how far back you want to go really doesn’t it? There has always been high unemployment and emigration from this country. But people were not turning on each other as much them as they are now.
@EvieXVI: we are living in a strange time that we are not used too. Teenagers always get a raw deal I know I work with them. The old and the young will suffer most but in saying that so will the middle aged suffer. There is a mass fear and panic running through this country we can blame the milk man, the football supporter, the government the kids, the banks, we can blame everyone until there is no body left to blame. Will it do us any good? Nope, it will just make a bad situation worse, weather we are working or not, have a roof over our heads or not, have lost someone or not. We did not create the situation we need to deal with it the best we can. But turning against each other is not the way to do it.
@G Fitz: thank you for your comment. If we had just one day were people were nice to each other and complimented each other and meant it, this country would be a better place. No being nice won’t stop the covid but it might just take a little bit of fear away from someone and that can’t be a bad thing.
@gary mullen: I’m agreeing with you on that but just don’t share your ‘we’ll be fine’ outlook. The lockdown, the restrictions, are devastating already. To make them more severe is more than most could bear, and more than
Our economy can bounce back from anytime soon. I’ll be fine, I worry for my children’s future. That’s my point.
@gary mullen: I think you are looking at the past through rose-tinted specs. Things were not better in the past and people are not turning on each other now. Of course, if you only look at social media, you’ll see opinions are becoming more divisive. I don’t see that reflected in the real world though
@EvieXVI: and there you go you have just proved my point. Tell me not to share my outlook, why not? I’m entitled to it and who are you to tell me not to? Secondary to that You will be fine what about everyone else? As long as you’re okay that’s all that matters is it?
@Mickety Dee: well I suggest you might want to get out there a bit more in the real world and see what’s going on. And we don’t need to look at social media in a whole we just need to look at the comments on the journal to start
@gary mullen: did I say don’t share your outlook? I said I disagree with it – not the same thing at all!
@EvieXVI: you said “but just don’t share your ‘we’ll be fine’ outlook.” That’s what you wrote in your comment if you want to go back there and have a look at it .
@gary mullen: Gary, the journal is social media
@Mickety Dee: I know this that’s why I said we don’t need to look at social media as a whole as in EVERY PLATFORM we only need to look at one eg. The journal. You just proved my point.
Circuit breaker? Call it what it is – an society breaker, a economy breaker
Did it work last time? The answer is no, it managed to get cases down to single figures but didn’t eridicate the virus so.. Where’s the logic in having another one which will only further cripple the economy further.
@SB: the logic is it will bring the figures from rapidly approaching 4 figures a day to single figures a day. That is at least 991 people a day who will be healthier than they would be otherwise
@D Mems: yeah but a few months later we’ll be back to square one and the economy will be far far worse off.
@SB: the idea is that we are trying to buy time. Each day that passes brings us closer to a vaccine / effective treatment.
@Tracktrack: You hope!!! Who’s to say there will ever be a vaccine or a treatment. To use any treatment safely it will need at least three years stringent testing. Anything less is definitely not safe.
@Franny Ando: You’re ok we definitely won’t force you if you don’t feel it’s safe…
@Damo: Sounds like you’ll be taking the risk and Franny will be getting the benefit
@SB: It amazes me that there has been so much talk about covid lockdown etc. And yet, here we are with people not even knowing the purpose of a lockdown.
Errrrr…. if they had to keep extending the periods of their “circuit breaker” due to increasing numbers, then it doesn’t work does it, it’s not a short sharp break is it?
I think these boys like inventing buzz words.
@Sam Greene: it’s a lockdown nothing more nothing less – a blunt instrument that effectively quarantined an entire healthy population / wrecks an economy / forces unemployment / increases damage to mental health / but hey it buys you time and stops your health service being overwhelmed – and if you reopen and haven’t actually used the time to improve testing and tracing and aggressively targeting outbreaks – then it’s just a colossal costly waste of effort – there are better ways to tackle a virus as demonstrated by almost every other EU country that managed to reopen and haven’t seen deaths increase or health systems overwhelmed but shhhhhhhhhh its a circuit break not a lock down – we are being fed horseshit these days how are putting up with this nonsense
@Dave Hammond: Well said, I’ve been of this opinion since the initial lock-down in March but I’m Covid fatigued at this stage, there’s no point in arguing, reiterating said argument or trying to fight one’s case. Wellcome to pharma authoritarian Ireland.
Btw, you’re very handsome.
Sounds like just a catchy name for level 5 restrictions. I hate these buzz words. Almost as bad as wet pubs
@Alan: The worst was staycation
@Alan: (New normal) is a terrible phrase like telling us this is forever. It’s not very normal is it.
@Alan: strange times, unprecedented, in this togethor, stay safe
“a circuit breaker was not contained in the current government road map”
Surely circuit breakers are all about the current …..
@Logan Shepherd: nice
@Logan Shepherd: There’s a lot of resistance to it though…
@Cliff Burnby: Ohm my god enough!
@Damo: I don’t know Watt they’re talking about.
@Sean May: Wire you saying that ?
This is as bad as leaked Information, we all know NPHET have been talking of closing the schools for an extended period of time at the mid term, for a full lockdown for 3-4 weeks, the hints are there from being told to start Christmas shopping and this article is literally getting people used to the idea.
Treating Irish people like children instead of telling us the truth
@David Lee: agree- honestly i feel if they could even raise the level to treat us like children instead of complete morons it would be an improvement – spending a day in the life of Ireland is pretty crappy these days – every establishment you use feels like a cross between a ward being run by nuns and a boarding school regulations – every channel has covid 19 hse government announcements that are so repetitively patronising and brain numbing only to be followed by hournly new updates full of fearmongering deminsing and finger wagging nanny state nonsense – its relentlessly moronic – the teachers , the schools , the health officials , the gardai yada yada – and NONE of them are financially impacted by Covid whatsoever – taxpayers funding an extra 600m into health – 45m for garda overtime so they can stand on the side of the road and delay all the commercial traffic and essential workers in miles and miles of queues in a most idiotic display of a waste of resources and thats saying something in Ireland these days – honestly the all in this together nonsense was being peddled and half the country was in truth jsut working from home on full pay unaffected – and guess which half were content to finger wag -window squint and keyboard warrior the daily horseshit – yep not the ones that are hurting most and have seen jobs gone and livlihood wrecked – we are not all in this together at all folks – theres the govt , civil servant semi state health officals teachers half of the country that are now complaining about how stressful it is to have to work on full pay ( yep looking at your teachers ) and then theres the rest – i wonder if during this unique time of unprecedented challenge will our minister announce on budget day that all govt services are being reduced to 3 day week to reflect lack of demand as we are in lockdown and restrictions that we will be reducing public sector pay to 3 day week for the foreseeable future – watch how fast we would find solutions to live with covid and get out restrictions then…….don’t hold your breath
Circuit breaker? Call it what it is – an society breaker, a bloody economy breaker
@Brendan Moore: An admissions to hospital an ICU breaker?
@Thomas O’ Donnell: Which ICU? The government only promised us to increase the ICU capacity.
That gloss living with Covid plan seems to be going well!
@Damien McDaid: I wonder how much money was spent coming up with it !!!!
We had already a ‘short temporary’ lockdown. Wouldn’t trust any short time promises
Thanks Christina.
Will a Circuit Breaker strategy work. No, not if it is intended to produce a zero Covid result. The best it might do is reduce transmission to double digit numbers. How long it would take is a big issue. Could the country afford it is an even bigger issue. Then what? When we open up again and resume normal type living the numbers will inevitably go up again. So a circuit breaker strategy will not work period. The only viable strategy is to adopt level 2 “living with Covid” restrictions and achieve a balance between infections, ICU numbers and somewhat normal living with JIT tracing, targeted lockins and compulsory quarantine.
Kevin T Finn
@Kevin T Finn: you are 100% right Kevin , how has our country become so devoid of smart people doing some critical thinking and coming up with solutions and then implementing a plan – we are limping along with no joined up thinking at all – the vast majority of (the people) all played their role in the original lockdown – a blunt instrument to buy time – and what did we do then ? have we started aggressive testing and tracing at ports of entry , have we got nursing homes under aggressive quarantine to stop them becoming infected again – why no level 5 for nursing homes direct provision and meat factories while the rest of the country gets to work ???? Not a jot of a sensible approach to be seen anywhere in this country – we have this zero covid brigade that have no solutions – put them on a 3 day week with pay cuts and watch how they change their tune – its nonsense – we are the slowest country in eu to reopen and yet we cannot simply look at best practice and choose a path that has a balance of targeted restrictions and reopening livelihoods and SME business to enable us drive economic activity so we can fund the health services that are mostly in need – instead we are debating about who said what to who and who leaked what when last week – its so moronic
This was exactly the plan 7 months ago. Do you remember the images of a line of matches with one taken out?
5-10-20
The date the sham Government ignored the advice of medical experts , after this Varadkar came up with the term “circuit breaker” to save his ego
@Tony Kennedy. You’re wrong Tony. That’s a NPHET invention whatever it is called. I bet NPHET were about calling for a level 6 lockdown…actually.
Circuit breaker vs Lockdown , care to explain the difference Leo?
Many extra people will die because the call to lockdown was ignored.
It was your call Leo..
@ChronicAnxiety: eh, no, it wasn’t Leo’s call. He’s no single-handedly running the country. Thankfully, neither is Tony Holohan.
@EvieXVI: that’s what you are dealing with…if the government gave in to Holohan the same geniuses would be saying NHET was running the country and that the govt was a lame duck.
@ChronicAnxiety: get real Chronic. Level 3 will work if people only cop on.
Circuit breaker sounds bizarre. While I absolutely think lockdown works from personal experience, its only works when the society its being applied to actually behaves. Irish society is incredibly selfish and doesn’t think twice about flouting the rules. So I think at the very least enforcement of the current guidelines is needed. No point doing something more severe if people won’t follow the guidelines even at level 5.
I think the anti-mask protestors deserve a ‘short, sharp shock’ to the head. Would do them some good!
Does this mean that every Tom,Dick & Harry will be stopped coming into our country from abroad at last ?
have your say