You can attend a wedding with strangers but not have seven friends over for a garden party.
You can send your children to school on a bus but are advised not to take a bus yourself.
You can watch a football match in a pub that serves food but not watch a game on the sidelines.
These are among the contradictions in the latest set of restrictions introduced by the Government to stem the spread of coronavirus after a surge in the number of Covid-19 infections here.
Experts on how viruses spread say that some restrictions make little epidemiological sense when other things are allowed, but are clearly based on political decisions and for social benefits.
People can attend an indoor arts venue while distancing but not spectate outside at a match
Sporting matches and events have reverted to being held “behind closed doors” from a situation where 200 spectators were allowed, so that social gatherings before and after games will be strictly avoided.
Indoor venues such as cinemas, galleries and theatres can, however, continue to operate with distancing as they are deemed “controlled environments” by the Government.
Restaurants and pubs serving food can continue to operate, so it is possible for people to be able to watch a football match broadcast while having a meal out, but they cannot watch a game from the stands.
"It just doesn't make sense to me. Sport seems to have been singled out for very rough treatment in this, unnecessarily so, I think. Outdoor activity is certainly not as risky as indoor," said Prof Kingston Mills, professor of experimental immunology at Trinity College Dublin.
People are discouraged from using public transport but children can take buses to school
The Government has reverted to discouraging people from taking public transport, yet schoolbuses will be permitted to operate under the plan to reopen primary and secondary education.
"It doesn't make sense: why can you send children to school on a bus but you cannot sit on a bus yourself? There is no logic in it," said Dr Akke Vellinga, an epidemiologist at NUI Galway.
Others agree.
"It is hard to understand. The real challenge here is that it is not like we have great options to select from," said Prof Patricia Kearney, professor of epidemiology at UCC and a member of the "Zero-Covid Island" group that wants deeper restrictions to suppress the virus fully before reopening society.
“If we ban schoolbuses and then children lose out on their education, then that has huge implications for their health and wellbeing. Education is an essential service.”
People can only have six people from no more than three households visit their homes, but can eat out in a restaurant as part of a larger group or attend a wedding with up to 49 others
This measure limiting visitors is designed to prevent larger numbers at house parties, though the Government rejected the recommendation of the National Public Health Emergency Team that the restrictions on the numbers meeting (a maximum of six in homes and 15 at outdoors gatherings away from home) apply to weddings from August 24th.
Epidemiologists see some sense in these measures, given that restaurants have largely shown that they can comply with very strict regulations on social distancing and numbers, whereas large numbers of people tend to roam around in a private house party, increasing the risk of transmission.
People can go to church but are encouraged to work from home if possible
In the eyes of epidemiologists, the risks can be equal in both settings. Church services are unaffected by the new restrictions and can continue to allow up to 50 attendees.
“If the person you are meeting, whether a colleague or a person in church or a family member, if they are moving in circles where the prevalence of the virus is really high, then they become a higher risk,” said Dr Vellinga, who wants clearer evidence supporting new restrictions.
“For me the whole thing does not make sense. It is basing the rules of today on the rules of yesterday rather than science,” she said.
Even though risks can be the same, contradictions in restrictions come down to difficult choices.
“The contradictions seem to be about making political choices and balancing them with public health advice, like opening schools but not so much workplaces that don’t need to be open fully right away,” said Dr Tomás Ryan, an associate professor at the school of biochemistry and immunology at Trinity College Dublin.
“Do they pose the same risk? Yes, in a sense, so it makes sense to treat them the same, but when you value one more than the other, you may make these choices that may seem contradictory because you are valuing a particular area of society.”
