THE HSE HAS sent a statement out today to distance it from comments made by the clinical director of Dublin Midlands Hospital Group, who claimed that Covid-19 is less severe than the flu, and Ireland should be attempting to achieve herd immunity.

Dr Martin Feeley is quoted in the Irish Times today as saying that Covid-19 is “much less severe” than the flu and that current restrictions to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus is “draconian”. 

Dr Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer for the HSE said this afternoon:

For the avoidance of any doubt, the position as stated by Dr Feeley in the Irish Times today is not the position of the HSE on this important subject.

There have been over 28 million cases and 900,000 deaths worldwide, many among older and vulnerable populations, Henry said, adding that SARS-CoV-2 was a new virus for which there is no cure or vaccination, and against which the population had no immunity.

Feeley had suggested that people at low risk from the virus should be exposed to it so they can develop herd immunity and reduce the risk to vulnerable groups.

To this, Dr Henry said: “Herd immunity for an infectious disease occurs when a sufficient proportion of the population develops a sustained immunity either through vaccination or previous infection.

Relying on infection, as we now know, has the power to overwhelm healthcare systems and lead to large-scale illness and death, particularly in vulnerable populations.

According to the WHO, the threshold for establishing herd immunity is not yet clear, he added.

“Neither is the duration of post-infection immunity known.

The most effective way of protecting older people and vulnerable groups is not by expecting them to protect themselves, but by everybody adhering to the public health advice which that will limit transmission of the virus between individuals and households.