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Another 13 deaths and 970 cases of Covid-19 were reported in the state on Tuesday as the government took steps to deal with the worsening situation by announcing plans to impose Level 5 restrictions later this week.
The National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) recorded 970 cases, bringing the total number since the pandemic began to 81,228.
Of the cases reported Tuesday, 348 were in Dublin, 60 in Limerick, 59 in Cork, 59 in Wexford, 55 in Louth, and the remaining 389 cases were spread across 20 other counties.
At 2:00 p.m., 238 patients with Covid-19 were hospitalized, of which 28 were in the ICU.
On Tuesday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin warned that the number of infections was growing at 10 percent a day, which if it continued unchecked would threaten to overwhelm the health service within a few weeks.
Under the new restrictions, restaurants and pubs serving food will close at 3 pm on Christmas Eve. The hairdressing and personal services will close from Christmas Eve.
Hotels will be allowed to open on Christmas, after which they will be allowed to serve guests only.
Martin said the schools would also remain open.
Non-essential retail stores will be allowed to remain open, but stores will be asked not to make sales. Gyms, leisure centers and swimming pools will remain open, but only for individual exercise. People will be allowed to train outdoors, but only in groups of 15 or less. Sports matches cannot be held apart from elite ones.
Two home visits will be allowed until St. Stephen’s Day, but then it will be reduced to one home until December 31, and home visits will be banned entirely in the new year.
The restrictions will be reviewed on January 12, but Tánaiste Leo Varadkar warned that they could be needed for more than two months.
The first vaccinations in the Republic will be carried out on December 30, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said. Approximately 10,000 doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine will be available after Christmas.
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