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The government is moving towards a limited reopening of social and economic life next week, with shops, hair salons, museums and galleries likely to open their doors at the end of six weeks of Level 5 restrictions.
Government sources said last night that hotels will likely reopen on December 1-2 with facilities restricted to residents only. Hotel owners have lobbied the government to lift travel restrictions to allow people to travel between counties. Officials are very reluctant to allow this in the short term, but travel restrictions are expected to be lifted later in December.
However, new research conducted for the Taoiseach Department has alarmed ministers and senior officials when it comes to reopening pubs and restaurants.
Conducted by EY consultants and based on the study of the spread of the virus to date, the research is understood to warn of the dangers of infections in congregated settings where alcohol is served.
While no decision has yet been made on whether to allow restaurants and pubs to reopen later in the month, those serving food are expected to be able to open later in December, subject to strict social distancing controls. But high-level sources believe pubs that don’t serve food are highly unlikely to be allowed to open.
Reopening plan
Last night, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that the Government would “go as far as possible but no more” in the reopening plan that will be announced later this week, while Tánaiste Leo Varadkar warned that the reintroduction of some restrictions in January o February might be needed after Christmas.
The National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) will meet today to consider its recommendations to the Government on the plan to reopen and manage the pandemic during the Christmas period.
Intense discussions are expected between ministers and public health experts in the coming days as the government seeks to strike a balance between reopening in time for Christmas and avoiding another resurgence of the disease in late December / early January.
The National Gallery of Ireland in Merrion Square. Museums and galleries are also likely to open their doors at the end of six weeks of Level 5 restrictions.
It is understood that in addition to the EY investigation, the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure have also carried out their own economic analysis of the current blockade. Sources said the analysis suggested that public health results had been disappointing given the extent of the restrictions, and the drop in new infections was substantially achieved through the less stringent Level 3 restrictions in place before Level 5 was introduced. at the end of October.
A source said: “rigorously [of lockdown] it has had a huge impact on employment without the compensatory public health results. “
Last night, the number of new cases continued to fall with Nphet reporting 226 new cases and the death of six more people from Covid-19, the lowest number of daily cases reported since the end of September. The incidence of the disease in 14 days nationwide has been reduced to 107.8 cases per 100,000 people.
Meanwhile, a new analysis from the Central Bureau of Statistics shows that Covid-19 is the fourth largest underlying cause of death this year.
Cancer is the leading cause of death for both men and women, accounting for 7,269 of the total 22,416 deaths recorded so far in 2020, the CSO found. Diseases of the circulatory system were the next highest underlying cause of death, with 5,886. Mental and behavioral disorders, which include dementia, were linked to 2,390 deaths, followed by Covid-19, with 1,462.
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