Cabinet subcommittee will consider NPHET Level 5 advice prior to announcement

THE CABINET SUB-COMMITTEE on Covid-19 will consider advice from the National Public Health Emergencies Team (NPHET) today on lowering Level 5 restrictions ahead of a government announcement tomorrow.

NPHET met yesterday and finalized its advice to the government that the subcommittee will consider today before a full cabinet meeting on Friday.

The Government has already indicated that a gradual approach will be taken to ease restrictions and reopen society in the run-up to Christmas.

A full cabinet meeting will be held tomorrow and a national speech from Taoiseach Micheál Martin is expected around 6pm.

The Level 5 restrictions, which have been in effect since October 22, are expected to be lifted on December 1 and the country will enter Level 3, with some modifications, next Wednesday.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar indicated yesterday that retailers, gyms and hair salons will be among those to reopen first.

Varadkar said restrictions on home visiting were expected to be eased for up to two weeks to allow people to visit friends and family at Christmas.

“The government’s goal is to have as normal a family dinner on Christmas Day as possible, but it is too early to make that call,” he said.

“We want people to be able to meet their families and friends during the Christmas period.

The museums, galleries, and cinemas are expected to reopen beginning December 2 under the planned departure of the Level 5 Government.

The third phase of the plan will allow home visits as well as inter-county travel so that people can visit loved ones at Christmas.

“We know that people will do it anyway. Then we better be able to provide it safely, the Tanaiste said yesterday.

“Because we have reduced the virus to much lower levels than in Northern Ireland or Great Britain, we believe that we will be able to do so for a much longer period than the five or six days you are talking about. We hope we can do it for about two weeks, ”Varadkar said.

The government has yet to make a clear decision on whether to allow pubs and restaurants to reopen in December.

Speaking yesterday, Padraig Cribben, executive director of the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) accused the government and public health officials of penalizing publicans without evidence of widespread transmission related to these settings in Ireland.

“There is what I would have called a bias, but now I’m starting to believe that it is revenge at NPHET for pubs,” he said.

Meanwhile, NPHET has likely given more cautious advice to the government.

The virus’s trajectory had been on a downward trend until the end of last week, when cases began to rise again, prompting concern from Public Health officials about an anticipated reopening of the partnership in early December.

The Health Department confirmed 269 more cases of Covid-19 and six more deaths last night.