USA open for months, but becuase sleepy joe is in the hot seat, no one cares
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How can a hack allow you to post precise case numbers each day but not deaths?
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They are available but buried in one of the HSE dashboards and not discussed at the press conference. 12 for June and one for July last I heard. Same story for the test positivity rate - available to NPHET but not published.
Has anyone here seriously denied that covid isnât real?
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They wouldnât be good for the FEAR index.
I genuinely thought lads were tin foil milliners when they said media was creating a narrative but itâs certainly been facilitated during Covid
INSIDE A RESTAURANT COVID CLUSTER
THE IVY DAWSON STREET, JUST BEFORE REOPENING IN DECEMBER. PHOTOGRAPH: ARTUR WIDAK/NURPHOTO/GETTY IMAGES
As indoor dining prepares to reopen ⊠a cautionary tale of one restaurantâs experience in December 2020
Deirdre Falvey
Dining out has been a frequent subject of debate since coronavirus took hold in early 2020, and a key talking point of the past few weeks. Indoor dining in restaurants and pubs â originally planned for July 5th â will now resume no later than July 26th.
The Government announcement this week of the new date was welcomed as a âgiant leap forwardâ by Adrian Cummins, chief executive of the Restaurantsâ Association of Ireland, and criticised as a âreckless mistakeâ on behalf of a âprivate business lobbyâ by Opposition TD Paul Murphy.
These are just two of many views expressed on the subject in recent days. Which of them right?
This story is about what happened in one restaurant in December 2020. It is but one example from numerous clusters across Ireland that constituted the Christmas spike in cases and led to a 4œ-month lockdown.
We tell the story not to be alarmist: the percentage vaccinated is increasing after all, and these precise patterns are unlikely to be repeated in the coming weeks.
We tell the story not to single out this business. This could be any large restaurant or indoor pub with busy throughput. The volume of customers and staff indoors, the fact that diners could not wear masks while eating, and the underestimated virulence of Covid-19 at the time made this and other outlets vulnerable to infection spread, despite safeguards.
We tell the story to show how easy it is for Covid to take hold in a restaurant environment. Many younger hospitality workers, even now, remain unvaccinated, and the commercial pressures facing hospitality businesses have not lessened since December.
The research for this article was conducted in January, shortly after the events. Now, as restaurants prepare to reopen, the story acquires a new public-interest relevance.
November 2020
In late November, with restaurants shut for two months because of Covid-19 transmission risk, the Government decides to allow indoor dining from December 4th, putting it at odds with advice of the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet), which has called for more caution in reopening hospitality.Even ahead of reopening, bookings are strong for pre-Christmas, traditionally the busiest and most lucrative period for restaurants.
Friday,
December 4thThe Ivy Dawson Street restaurant in Dublin reopens, along with many others across the industry. The stylish 200-seat, all-day outlet, the only Irish branch of Caprice Holdingsâ Ivy Collection UK chain, has been operating in Dublin since 2018.
Thereâs a cautious approach in the Dawson Street establishment, and an emphasis on safety for both staff and customers. Staff repeat online training on sanitising protocols and distancing, and the start times for evening shifts are staggered, to avoid staff arriving simultaneously and interacting unnecessarily.
Experienced waiter âPatâ says the Ivy is âvery busy, from breakfast till dinner, and seemed almost fully booked, even on Monday and Tuesdaysâ. They stick to public healthâs stipulated 105-minute time limit and âŹ9 minimum spend.
There are sanitisers throughout the restaurant for guests and staff. Managers check staff temperatures at shift starts. Waiters wear reusable masks bearing the Ivy logo. Staff dress in the changing rooms, many using the iron, wearing masks.
One employeeâs sole job is sanitising surfaces and door handles.
âFrankâ (not a waiter) feels itâs well prepared for reopening, with reduced table numbers, separated by plastic panelling.
He says management is almost âmilitaristicâ about precautions, urging staff not to move unnecessarily between different areas of the restaurant. They were âvery f**king strict. It was surprisingâ.
Frank overhears reception explaining precautions during bookings, and says if customers made for the toilets without a mask, a manager or waiter would point it out.
Though there might be slippage in protocols initially, and chefs especially find it hot working in masks, Frank says, overall staff stick to rules. A loud conversation is overheard when a worker takes off their mask, a manager furiously saying itâs putting others at risk.
The well-oiled machine appears to be working, but some observe that it is not operating perfectly. At the staff entrance, workers scan fingers to clock in and out, touching a keypad. Pat says the nearby sanitiser is broken through most of December. âIt was filled, but didnât work.â He doesnât know if anyone reported it.
Symptom forms stop after about a week, he says. âIt was one of the busiest times Iâve ever worked in the Ivy,â says Pat â âtoo busy to stick to all the proceduresâ. For example, âmenus were supposed to be wiped between use but that wasnât always possible with the volume we were doing during the dayâ.
Monday,
December 7th Pat reckons staggered shift starts stop around this day, with all evening waiters now arriving at 5pm. (Morning shifts were always staggered.) Though boards prevent people touching off one another in the small staffroom, now you could have three or four people changing together at the same time, for example.
Another staff member, âGregâ, says customers are less easy-going than they were in summer, when they often came and went without masks. In December, he says, guests wear masks automatically, âlike wearing shoes going out. Although there were some customers who were not respectful of that and came close to ask us things. But we asked customers to step backâ.
Greg is conscious of an infection risk from surfaces; theyâre supposed to sanitise every surface, but under pressure they might sometimes skip.
Thursday, December 10th
Deborah Martin, working in PR from home since March 2020, meets three friends for dinner at the Ivy. Two days later all four feel ill within an hour of each other: âWe started to fall like flies.â All test positive for Covid-19, and in turn pass it on to family members. Martin feels certain they caught it dining together indoors, the only time all four were together. But itâs impossible to be sure where anyone picks it up, whether they all caught it in one place, or if one asymptomatically brought it in.
When Martin and her friends arrive for their 7.45pm booking, âit was quite busy and they were running lateâ. They wait in the foyer, then at the bar, before being seated at a corner table around 8.25pm. They leave at 10.15/10.30pm. âThere was no rush.â
While waiting she is aware of people moving around, âup and down to the loos, without masks, touching the handrail. Guests were brushing up against me. It felt uncomfortableâ. She recalls a busy restaurant, where staff seemed under pressure, moving quickly.
Martin has a private test and reports her positive result to the HSE. Her companions were tested and contact-traced by the HSE. They are very thorough, says Martin, asking where they were seated, waiting locations, timelines.
Martin rings the restaurantâs Dublin number, reaching what she says sounds like UK head office. She informs them of the cases, requests they pass the information and her contacts to the Dublin management. âNot one person got back to me.â
Theyâd a nice evening. Her first time out since March, but âit wasnât worth itâ, given the outcome.
A cluster/outbreak is defined as two or more cases of lab-confirmed Covid-19 infection (symptomatic or not), or one lab-confirmed case and at least one other illness with Covid symptoms.
Public health authorities, which analysed the Ivy outbreak, cannot comment on individual cases.
Dr Fionnuala Cooney, director of public health for Dublin South, Kildare and West Wicklow, explains in a statement: âWhen a case of Covid-19 is identified which is linked to the hospitality sector, public health professionals discuss directlyâ with the person/family about their contacts, and also discuss âdirectly with the business, undertaking a public health risk assessmentâ.
Recommendations, including any exclusion of staff, are made, and responses may differ, depending on circumstances identified by public health, she says.
Dr Cooney points out âa particular feature of restaurants and bars is that customers are not wearing masks or face coverings for much of their time at the setting. This can increase the risk of transmission of Covid-19â.
We know of another group, two couples, who all test positive after dining together at the Ivy in December; one travels for work and it is not clear that their infection was linked to their dining experience as the virus was circulating widely at this time.
Mid-December
The all-day restaurant is now very busy. Pat feels it is âregularly overbooked and understaffedâ.
It normally serves around 800 people daily. Tables are rearranged for distancing, but waiter Pat reckons that, because the 105-minute limit means faster turnaround, the restaurant is still doing 700-800 covers a day: âThey actually shot up through the month of December.â On the other hand, the time limit reduces how much people drink, Pat adds.
Some customers are âblasĂ©, they didnât mind going as normal to a restaurantâ, while others, more conscious of risks, âkept their distanceâ.
Pat describes being aware occasionally of âsome tables watching you, making it quite obvious, by their facial expression, putting masks on whenever you came to the tableâ.
Others seem to be on a ârestaurant crawlâ, with two or three bookings a night, ordering one course and drinks. Initially, the restaurant tries to insist on at least a main course, but if customers make a fuss, they just have a starter.
Pat describes some discomfort waiting tables, being aware through December of the numbers of interactions on a shift. âThe amount of times you have to go to a table in one hour and 45 minutes: pick up and put down drinks, food, clearing the table. Youâre making contact with the table maybe six or eight times, depending on what theyâre getting.â
Pat feels not enough people were rostered front of house. âI think they overbooked the restaurant for the amount we could have done safely, and there was too much work to do to stick to all the regulations.â
The Governmentâs return to work safely protocol requires âstrong communication and a shared collaborative approach between employers and workersâ, and stipulates workplaces appoint a lead worker representative (LWR) âcharged with ensuring Covid-19 measures are strictly adhered toâ who âshould be clearly identifiable in the workplaceâ, working with a Covid-19 response manager.
At an unrelated disciplinary meeting on August 20th, Unite trade union, which represents some Ivy staff, pointed out to management it didnât have a LWR and wasnât in compliance.
The restaurant had said a senior manager was in the role.
Staff we spoke to werenât aware of who the LWR was, or of the requirement for one.
December 18th-20th weekend
An employee, âAnnâ, whose job involves contact with both front and back of house, starts to feel sick, and tests positive. Another employee, âCoriâ, also tests positive around this weekend. Both are symptomatic but not very sick, and unable to narrow down where it was contracted.
Over the weekend, Greg hears of two other positive tests among colleagues. He isnât worried as he hadnât been in close contact with them. âAt the same time I knew someone might catch it, so I was prepared.â
Rumours spread within Dublin hospitality about an outbreak of Covid at the Ivy, among staff and diners.
Itâs the last weekend before Christmas, the height of the season. âPeople kept piling in,â says Pat. âIt was unbelievably mad.â
Monday,
December 21stStaff get Tuesday appointments for Covid testing by the HSE on the premises. Those who speak to The Irish Times say there was no explanation of why public health was mass testing all staff. Management present it as a precaution and â outside of those who test positive â does not notify the whole staff that there are cases.
Dr Cooney points out infectious disease legislation mandates investigating âthe nature and source of infectionâ, and âstopping onward transmission of the virus is what it most important in our work as public health doctorsâ.
Without breaching the HSEâs duty of confidentiality, she observes generally of workplace outbreaks, if there are only one or two cases, and their contacts are tested/advised to isolate. Depending on circumstances â environment, work practices, travel arrangements, accommodation and social practices â they decide whether to test all staff or not, and whether to close or keep open the facility. Workplaces where possible cases include both staff and service users â including hospitality â are categorised separately.
Greg says staff speculate about the testing, wondering if there are more than the two confirmed cases. âIt wasnât easy because a lot of staff were panicking and some were anxious. I was trying to keep calm ⊠Others were more nervous, saying they were afraid they might have the virus as well, probably because they were working the same shifts.â
Some staff are out sick at the weekend, but colleagues donât know if itâs due to Covid-19 or not.
Tuesday,
December 22nd Not being informed, says Greg, âmade it worse. We didnât know anything definitely, but people exaggerate and so we donât know the truth. I would like to have known. But on the other hand I would have been panicked if I had knownâ.
Another employee who tested positive echoes this: they heard âa lot tested positiveâ but it was kept quiet. While recognising itâs a difficult situation to handle, it was dealt with badly, they say.
Rumours, like the virus, spread like wildfire. Staff describe managers on the floor shaking their heads in disbelief, some workers openly wonder how they can still be open. Some are nervous about working; at least one leaves.
An area in the basement is sectioned off for HSE testing. Everyone, rostered or not, is tested, says Frank. âWe were told weâre closing tomorrow but everyone will be tested before we go. They took care of us, all things considered.â
On December 22nd morning, an Irish Times reporter rings and asks both the Ivyâs general manager and a PR representative about the situation.
Heâs told while there have been cases among diners, âthe HSE has alerted the restaurant to thatâ, the restaurant is open and trading normally.
Heâs told there was no identified cluster among staff, and it had been given the all-clear by the HSE.
But public health officials are on the premises at this point, testing all staff.
Wednesday, December 23rd
Many staff receive results. Itâs unknown how many are positive. Weâve spoken to or are aware of at least three staff who were positive before the mass testing, and at least one who hadnât symptoms but tested positive on the 22nd. This is aside from the at least eight positive diners. Information also circulates informally among staff about additional positive tests of workers.
The restaurant stays open all day, closing at 11pm. It is understood bookings for Christmas Eve are cancelled. Closure is communicated with staff via a screenshot on a WhatsApp group, of an Instagram post that Ivy would be shut on the 24th.
Thursday, December 24th
It is Christmas Eve, and the restaurant has closed a day early. Despite the return-to-work protocol requirement for communication and collaboration, staff who speak to The Irish Times say management have not communicated with staff about cases or how they have been handled at any point. Staff remain in the dark about the extent of Decemberâs outbreak.
How do viruses spread in hospitality? The Ivy is a very large restaurant, serving for over 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Pat estimated 700-800 covers a day in December. Some time ago staff was estimated at 150, but itâs believed there were fewer in December (making it less crowded, but more challenging to observe protocols).
Even a conservative average of, say, 600 diners a day for the 19 days it was open suggests in excess of 10,000 diners. According to the Health Protection Surveillance Centreâs epidemiology of Covid-19 outbreaks/clusters in Ireland, 60 outbreaks in restaurants/cafĂ©s were notified between August 2nd, 2020, and the second week of 2021 (restaurants were not open for a significant part of that time). This represents just 0.7 per cent of all outbreaks in the period.
The Ivyâs response
We sought to include Ivy managementâs perspective on handling an outbreak in hospitality, an experience shared by many other organisations. The Ivy declined to discuss Decemberâs outbreak. When we contacted the Dublin general manager in January, he said that he couldnât speak for the Dublin restaurant and that the marketing team in London head office would respond. Earlier this year, we asked an Irish strategic communications company representing the Ivy about diners and staff who tested positive, who was Covid-19 lead worker representative, and whether staff were told about positive cases â among other questions. The response didnât address the questions but said: âThe Ivy Dawson Street health and safety policies are fully in line with the Governmentâs guidelines. We take the health and safety of our guests and staff as paramount and had put in place rigorous measures designed to ensure the safety of our employees and guests alike.â
In recent days, The Irish Times once again invited the Ivy to respond to questions about the events in this article. The company chose not to comment further.
âPrecarious workâ
Brendan Ogle of Unite is adamant: âThere was a cluster in the Ivy, itâs well known in hospitality, and workers need it exposed. Why do Ivy refuse to confirm numbers? ⊠Weâre aware of the nature of precarious work, the fear it engenders. The Ivy knew about the virus cases, which was a great cause for concern, and they stayed open.â
It could have been any large restaurant; the whole sector was vulnerable at this time. And restaurants opened last winter with the backing of the Government. However, as Ogle reminds us, they did so âagainst Nphet advice ⊠and hey prestoâ.
Staff membersâ names have been changed but are known to The Irish Times
Deirdre writing like itâs the 24 hours before the Titanic hit the ice berg
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Iâm partaking of some indoor dining right now. Pray for me. Should be ok though itâs a hotel.
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Make sure and spend at least nine euro just to be on the safe side.
Thatâs a poor enough piece imo. Clearly informed by a Union bod with knives out for the place. Sounds like they made a balls of it but it doesnât exactly help the cause of banning indoor dining, seems like an attack on the Ivy more than the sector itself.
If they show more than one table on one night being infected it would have a bit of power. I expected that but it was all quite vague. The HSE have never put together a proper enhanced contact tracing case study. Theyâre right in that certain settings can cause these events but the default is to keep things shut. You can see the clear power or antigen in that scenario.
Iâd say 9 euro would go far in Poland.
Not anymore kid
Ireland has taken 34 countries off its pointless and racist mandatory hotel quarantine list.
We are now literally wide open to people from Kyrgistan waltzing in here with a highly dangerous variant and undoing all our good work.
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âWe tell this story not to be alarmistâ
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See some young polish lad signed his first pro contract for Liverpool yesterday. He looks a player from the highlight reel (I know they all do)
Thatâs the lad with the under 18âs?
Itâs quite a breathless tale.
Yeah. The Polish Messi. He can dribble anyway.
Mateusz Musialowski
But weâve added Cuba to MHQ.
Thank goodness for that. We can all breathe a sigh of relief.
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Sinn FĂ©in might start opposing it now at least.