The Explainer
11 Mar 2020
How can Ireland stop an Italy-style spread of coronavirus?
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With the Covid-19 outbreak comes significant challenges, including huge pressure on our health service and disruption to our day-to-day lives.Minister for Health Simon Harris has already flagged that we are likely to see significantly more cases in Ireland, but many would be hoping that we can avoid what's happening in Italy.Italy has the second-highest number of cases in the world, after China, and the number of cases continues to spiral into the thousands. The entire country was put into lock-down on Monday night in an effort to contain the virus This week on The Explainer we're looking at how Covid-19 virus spread so fast there, and what can be learned from the approach of the Italian government.Joining presenter Sinéad O'Carroll is our senior reporter Michelle Hennessy as well as Professor of Health Systems at DCU Anthony Staines to examine what exactly happened in Italy, whether Ireland might have to implement a similar approach to contain the virus, what our other options might be, and how other countries are approaching the challenge.