I don’t feel like extending the Level 5 lockdown, says Donnelly

The Health Minister has insisted that there is “no desire” to extend Ireland’s Level 5 lockdown, but failed to guarantee that the restrictions will be eased as scheduled.

Stephen Donnelly urged the public to “redouble” compliance with the measures for the remainder of the six-week lockdown, as he expressed concern about recent “stalled” progress in reducing infection rates.

He said the scenes of people drinking on the streets of Dublin and Cork over the weekend and the data indicating more traffic on the streets were evidence that people were “fatigued” with the restrictions.

Level 5 measures must be lifted on December 1.

Donnelly said that while the country had made great progress in reducing infection numbers in the first half of the lockdown, Covid-19 rates were starting to go in the wrong direction again.

He said the number of infections had dropped from 1,200 a day at the start of the lockdown to current rates of 366 cases today.

He said Ireland had witnessed the largest reduction in cases in Europe.

However, Donnelly noted that 13 of the 26 counties have had more cases in the past seven days than in the previous seven days.

“We are largely on the road,” he told RTÉ.

“The first three weeks were really good, last week’s R number dropped to 0.6.

“So people have made great sacrifices, people have really joined Level 5. It has worked.

“What I am saying and what the public health doctors are saying, over the last week it is clear that people have become fatigued. Meeting in large groups to drink outside is a symptom of that. We are also seeing more traffic on the roads.

“There has been a decrease in the last week, so we want to see in the next two weeks that we have to double, because we want to open as much as possible by December.”

The minister added: “There is no desire not to leave Level 5 in two weeks.

“A very clear decision was made, which was Level 5 for six weeks, which is why the next two weeks are so important.”

When asked if the government would approve of lifting the Level 5 restrictions no matter what on December 1, Donnelly replied, “I don’t think with Covid, the Irish government or any government anywhere can say no matter what.”

Donnelly pointed out that the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) had recommended that Level 5 measures be lifted if the number of cases was reduced to 100 per day.

But he added: “There is time and if we do not reach one hundred it does not mean that we will not leave Level 5.

“Obviously, the government and Nphet will consider a wide variety of measures.”

Tonight, Medical Director Dr. Tony Holohan also highlighted the need for a concerted public effort over the next fortnight.

“I am increasingly concerned that the positive trends we have seen recently have not been sustained,” he said.

“The five-day moving average of daily cases has increased from an average of 350 cases on November 11 to 424 today.

“We have two weeks to continue our efforts to reduce community transmission of this disease as much as possible.

“The lower the incidence, the more flexibility the country will have to make the measures more flexible.”