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Level five restrictions should be introduced for the entire country for six weeks, recommended the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet).
The public health group led by the medical director has called for the highest level of restriction on Covid-19 as fears about the spread of the virus mount.
Level five restrictions would prohibit people from traveling more than 5 km from their home, no public gatherings other than small funerals or weddings would be allowed, and pubs and restaurants could only provide delivery or take-out service.
The recommendation comes less than two weeks after Nphet controversially recommended level five restrictions. However, Mr. Holohan’s advice was rejected by the government on that occasion because they did not believe the country was ready for a second shutdown.
Nphet met yesterday to discuss the escalating situation with the virus after the government banned household gatherings and introduced level four restrictions in Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal.
The new level five recommendation will be reviewed by senior officials this morning before the government decides what action to take.
A senior government source said they were not surprised by the recommendation given the high number of new cases, but insisted that the Cabinet will decide what action to take. Today there is no cabinet meeting scheduled and Taoiseach Micheál Martin is in Brussels for an EU summit.
Yesterday, Nphet reported 1,205 new cases of Covid-19 and three new deaths.
This included 288 new cases in Dublin, 173 in Cork, 123 in Meath, 97 in Galway, and 63 in Cavan.
Holohan said: “There have been further increases in all key COVID-19 indicators and the growth rate of the epidemic has accelerated since the last Nphet meeting.”
“Cases reported in the last week have increased by 82% compared to the previous 7 days, from 3,514 to 6,382 cases. The positivity rate in the last 7 days is now 6.2% and continues to increase, ”he added.
The CMO said the 14-day incidence rate among people 65 and older has risen from 92.9 per 100,000 residents on October 7 to 125 per 100,000 residents on October 14.
“The number of hospitalizations is increasing faster than the exponential growth model predicted. This indicates a rapidly deteriorating disease trajectory nationwide, “he added.
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