SIR – The increasingly exclusive focus on the number of Covid-positive cases by the health authorities, the government and the media, and the increasingly shrill concern about that number, have instilled an unwarranted level of fear in a large proportion of our population.
The caseload and the number of fatalities need to be put in context. Over the two months (June 26th to August 26th) almost 2,000 Covid-positive cases were reported, but during that same period only 51 deaths were attributed to the virus.
The number of fatalities also needs to be viewed in the context of Ireland’s normal pre-Covid death rate of about 90 per day, meaning that out of more than 5,000 deaths in Ireland between June 26th and August 26th, only 51 were attributed to the coronavirus.
The paucity of information regarding the cases and the fatalities also fuels public fear and anxiety. We are told that a high percentage of positive cases now occur among those aged 45 or less, but the outcomes of those cases are not publicised.
How serious were the infections? How many cases were asymptomatic, how many were only slightly unwell for a few days, and how many were hospitalised? Among all the fatalities and all the seriously ill, how many had underlying medical conditions (including obesity which initially, presumably for the sake of political correctness, appears not to have been recognised as such)?
We are also told that Covid-19 causes long-term problems, but we are not told how many (or how few) patients suffer from those problems or for how long.
The public deserves much more clarity and transparency regarding these issues.
Swithun Goodbody,
Cappaghglass,
Ballydehob.
