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Confusion over what measures will be applied in Dublin, apparent contradictions between ministers and the sudden announcement in the Dáil that Cabinet members are “self-isolating” overshadowed Tuesday’s release of the government’s plan to manage the pandemic for the next six months.
The plan, launched at Dublin Castle, was immediately criticized by opposition parties for being unclear when the government revealed that, although there would be a framework incorporating five levels of restrictions depending on the rate of spread of the coronavirus, it was judged that Dublin was currently between two levels.
While the country is currently designated at level two, Dublin is placed at level two but with additional restrictions that went into operation on Tuesday night.
There was confusion about what the restrictions actually imply. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said Dublin residents “absolutely can” travel outside the county.
But Taoiseach Micheál Martin later clarified that the advice of the National Public Health Emergencies Team (NPHET) was that while people were encouraged not to travel outside of Dublin, there were no regulations attached.
“I am encouraging people not to travel, if possible,” Martin told RTÉ.
National trips
The Department of Health directed the consultations on the subject to level two details of the Covid-19 plan that say that there are “no restrictions” on domestic travel.
More Dublin-specific restrictions are likely to be on the agenda when NPHET meets on Thursday.
Further tightening of the rule on mixing between homes and out-of-county travel is expected to be discussed.
NPHET’s recommendation last week to tighten the rules on home visiting and that “wet” pubs remain closed was included in the framework plan released Tuesday, but the situation has since worsened considerably.
Officials consider the situation in the country precarious, given the upward trajectory of cases and high levels of community transmission.
The urgency of the situation was revealed yesterday, when another 357 cases of Covid-19 were reported, 218 of them in Dublin, the highest daily figure since mid-May. Three more deaths were also reported.
The incidence of the virus in the worst affected areas of Dublin is now above the “red zone” threshold of 120 cases per 100,000 inhabitants used in the health service to indicate the highest level of alert.
As the government worked to explain the new plan Tuesday night, Leinster House and government buildings were shocked by the news that Donnelly had fallen ill and was being tested for Covid-19. As a result, people who had been in contact with him, including members of the Cabinet, were advised to limit their contacts.
Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl announced the news to Dáil, immediately adjourning the House, saying that the ministers were “isolating themselves”, although several ministers had not been informed at the time.
It later emerged that ministers had been advised to limit their contacts, a less restrictive position. Although the Ceann Comhairle had postponed the Dáil until next week, Mr. Martin later wrote to Mr. Ó Fearghaíl asking him to withdraw the Dáil on Tuesday evening. Opposition TDs fiercely criticized the sudden postponement, and Sinn Féin’s whip, Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, described the events as “an incredible disaster.”
Late Tuesday night, the Health Department confirmed that Donnelly’s test had come back negative.
Previously, Mr. Martin said that the government’s medium-term plan Living with Covid-19 sets out “how we will live and how we will work with the virus.”
While Martin warned of possible additional restrictions in Dublin, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that pubs in the rest of the country will reopen as planned on September 21 and that 200 people will be allowed to attend events in large open-air stadiums, with the possibility of more attending events in a stadium like Croke Park.
But Mr Varadkar also said that the incidence of the virus has increased tenfold in Dublin in the last month and unless there are preventive measures, there will be “a second wave of hospital admissions, ICU admissions and possible deaths”.
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