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Government public health experts have voiced strong opposition to some elements of the plan to lift restrictions next week and reopen social and economic life, The Irish Times understands.
After a lengthy meeting of the National Public Health Emergencies Team (Nphet) on Wednesday, Medical Director Dr. Tony Holohan briefed Health Minister Stephen Donnelly last night. Donnelly contacted senior government officials this morning.
The government has yet to receive a letter formally outlining Nphet’s advice, but the position taken by the public health team is understood to be considerably harsher than the approach favored by the government.
The government has indicated that Level Five restrictions will be eased next week, allowing stores to open. Pubs serving food and restaurants are also expected to open later in the month, perhaps the following week, and travel restrictions will be lifted for perhaps two weeks around Christmas, allowing people to travel to spend the period with their extended families. .
However, two sources familiar with the matter now say that Nphet’s council is likely to indicate opposition to some aspects of the planned reopening.
This will complicate things for the government, which is preparing to announce the details of the reopening on Friday. A cabinet subcommittee meeting on Covid is scheduled for later on Thursday, in which senior members of the government, along with senior members of Nphet and HSE chiefs, are to finalize plans to be presented to the cabinet. morning.
That meeting will now become more difficult, as the government will be faced with the choice of proceeding with the reopening despite objections from its public health experts, or backtracking on well-publicized plans to allow businesses to reopen and live. social and economic to start over before Christmas.
Border
Previously, government sources at both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael downplayed Tánaiste Leo Varadkar’s comments at the Fine Gael parliamentary party’s weekly meeting last night where he raised the issue of cross-border travel.
Ministers and senior officials will finalize the plan to get out of lockdown and manage the pandemic during the Christmas period today. Photograph: Dara Mac Donaill / The Irish Times.
Varadkar expressed concern about the prevalence of Covid-19 in the north and said there was a question about travel across the border that will need to be addressed.
Before his remarks at the party meeting, Mr. Varadkar had written to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, requesting information on Covid rates in the North and the possibility of cross-border infections.
But high-level sources in both government parties dismissed Varadkar’s intervention as a serious political initiative. While the cross-border issue is likely to be discussed tonight at a cabinet subcommittee meeting on Covid, few expect restrictions or even a call for people not to cross the border.
“If you are serious about this, then you have an obligation to discuss it with us in advance,” said a source from Fianna Fail.
A high-level Fine Gael source was also skeptical of the prospect of any restrictions and expressed bewilderment at the Tánaiste’s intervention.
There has been fierce lobbying from the hospitality industry in recent days, but several high-level sources across the government said last night that it is “highly unlikely” that pubs that do not serve food will open.
Earlier yesterday, Varadkar said that people are likely to be able to visit the homes of friends and family over a two-week period next month.
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