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Level 3 restrictions will be imposed in Donegal starting tonight following the recommendation of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) to the Government.
Government sources confirmed the decision to The Irish Times and ministers are likely to approve the measure at an incorporeal cabinet meeting this afternoon.
The move was prompted by growing alarm over rising infection rates in the county in recent days, and will mean restrictions similar to those currently in place in Dublin, though it is not yet clear whether the pub and restaurant restrictions are now in effect. in Dublin. the capital will be extended to Donegal.
Visitors from another home will be allowed entry. Training but not games will be allowed. Weddings and funerals will be limited to 25 people. People have been asked not to travel outside or within the city and county of Dublin.
It is understood that pubs may remain open but only to serve outdoor areas, and then with a limit of 15 people.
Grogan Pub on South William Street, Dublin. Photograph: Gareth Chaney / Collins
Pubs
Earlier on Thursday, it was reported that the state’s public health team, NPHET, privately expressed concern about the opening of pubs, claiming that alcohol has a “disinhibiting effect” on people.
At a meeting of the National Public Health Emergencies Team in late August, health officials discussed how pubs and bars “pose a particular risk to the spread of Covid-19, as alcohol can have a disinhibiting effect on people. people and affect judgment. “
Minutes from the NPHET meeting show the team said that regardless of how well-intentioned people are, it can affect their awareness and ability to comply with social distancing and hygiene and breathing advice.
NPHET recommended last week that Dublin should be moved to Level 3 of the government’s new five-tier alert system to contain the coronavirus and that pubs that do not serve food should remain closed when they reopen in other parts of the country on Monday. The Government also agreed with NPHET’s recommendation that food-serving pubs and restaurants, as long as they remain open in Dublin, should only serve customers outside.
The recommendations were sent to the government last week amid rising numbers of coronaviruses in the Republic, particularly in Dublin. Several other counties are also at risk of being elevated to Level 3 as the number of cases continues to rise in many parts of the state.
Officials at the August meeting said that internationally there have been several examples of Covid-19 outbreaks in bars and that there have also been several outbreaks associated with bars in Ireland, including 26 cases related to a bar in Co Kildare.
“When pubs and bars have reopened in other countries, various conditions have been imposed including reduced opening hours, social distancing, mandatory seating, table service only, reservation required, limited number per table, mandatory use of masks by the staff and capacity limits, ”Minutes of the status of the meeting.
The team also discussed an “increased risk of infection associated with nightclub-like settings, which by their nature are not intended to be places with seating where customers can maintain physical distance.”
Acting Medical Director Dr. Ronan Glynn said yesterday that struggling hospitality sectors will not influence public health decisions.
He said he was aware of the impact of the indoor eating ban in Dublin for the next three weeks, but said that “that cannot influence public health decisions when we are looking at hospitalizations, intensive care admissions and deaths. that we have seen in the last few days. “
He was asked why Dublin was the only capital city in Europe that banned indoor dining in restaurants and bars and kept wet pubs closed.
“Yes, we have closed bars and restaurants in Dublin, but bars and restaurants are open across the country.”
He said there was too great a focus on the “small but significant element of society that is not open to the detriment of the reality that the vast majority of society is open despite a highly infectious disease.”
Evidence
Professor Philip Nolan, Chairman of NPHET’s Irish Epidemiological Modeling Advisory Group, also reiterated that international evidence was the reason why he recommended a three-week ban on indoor eating in Dublin.
Earlier this week, the Irish Restaurant Association asked the government publish international evidence was based on supporting the decision to ban indoor dining in Dublin.
Adrian Cummins, executive director of the restaurant representative body, said NPHET had referenced international evidence as one of the reasons for closing the indoor dining room until October 10.
“Business owners want to see it. An industry has been closed. It’s about maintaining confidence in the strategy and where we are going, ”he said Monday.
Mr. Cummins asked the government to “fix” the contact tracing data to give confidence to businesses and employees across the country.
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