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The Christmas and New Years festivities will be reduced as pubs, restaurants and home visits face an early crackdown due to the alarm over rising Covid-19 levels.
The National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) has urged the government to reimpose restrictions on home visits and the hospitality sector from December 28. In a letter to the government, the team of chief physician Dr. Tony Holohan said that home visits should be reduced to just one more home from three days after Christmas Day. Nphet also said that pubs and restaurants should close from this date.
The recommendations are made in the context of an increase in Covid-19 cases since the shutdown ended on December 1.
Tánaiste Leo Varakdar admitted last night the restrictions that will be imposed on the hospitality sector before the end of the year and will come as a “devastating blow”.
“I know it’s a really hard thing to hear and a tough decision to make, but if we had to wait until January 3 or January 6, then the restrictions we impose might have to be tighter, or they might have to continue for longer and we don’t want that, “he said, speaking on RTÉ Stellar hour.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin revealed last night that the Cabinet would meet on Tuesday to consider the recommendations.
The country is already steeped in the pre-Christmas spirit and has sparked a flood of socialization with the average number of contacts of people contracting the virus up to an average of 3.4, increasing the chances of transmitting it.
People will be able to travel outside of their county starting today and also have home visits from up to two other homes over Christmas.
Professor Philip Nolan, who tracks the virus, said the R number, which should be less than 1, is at least 1.1 or 1.3, if not higher, showing how fast the virus is spreading. .
“We are concerned that Ireland is now in a phase of rapid growth, which if allowed to continue will result in 700-1,200 cases per day by the second week of January.”
When asked if a January lockdown was a possibility if virus levels rise, Dr. Holohan said nothing was ever ruled out inside or out and that Nphet would meet again on Wednesday.
Professor Nolan warned that the level of 1,200 daily cases, which led the country into the last six weeks of lockdown, was a pessimistic forecast, but not inevitable if the advice was heeded.
Earlier, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who contacted Dr. Holohan after yesterday’s Nphet meeting, said the cabinet would “seriously consider” a crackdown on pubs, restaurants and home visits on New Year’s Eve. .
“The increase in the second wave was mainly in younger people, so it did not have the same effect on hospitalizations and ICUs,” he said, saying that the health system was in good shape this winter and that he wanted to keep it that way. .
“We will give sufficient notice about any decision that the government makes,” he told RTÉ News.
But last night, Labor leader Alan Kelly said the public could not be expected to wait five days to hear from the government about possible additional Covid restrictions that could take effect before the new year.
“The public and businesses need certainty about any additional restrictions on home visiting and hospitality that Taoiseach said are likely,” he said.
“The Taoiseach should move the cabinet meeting forward to tomorrow morning and announce any potential restrictions as soon as possible.”
Yesterday there were three additional deaths related to Covid-19 and 484 newly diagnosed cases of the virus. The number of patients with the virus in the hospital is 200 and 31 are in intensive care with an additional 30 hospitalizations in the last 24 hours.
Yesterday’s new cases included 150 in Dublin, 45 in Wexford, 40 in Cork, 32 in Donegal, 29 in Limerick and the remaining 188.
cases spread over 20 other counties.
Dr. Holohan did not want to reveal Nphet’s recommendations. He said: “We are now receiving reports of outbreaks in social settings, including work settings, funerals, weddings, Christmas parties and weddings.”
He said that the consequences of not limiting contacts would be to “exposeinitial growth in January ”.
The great fear is that many people have already contracted the virus and do not know it, but they will pass it on to vulnerable people during Christmas celebrations.
Dr. Holohan said that the restrictions recommended by Nphet should be put in place to keep essential services, such as schools and non-Covid healthcare services open.
He explained that although Ireland has the lowest incidence rate in Europe, more restrictions must be put in place to maintain these essential public services.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland about the recommendation, he said: “We have continued to track the infection to do a weekly assessment, which we did yesterday, and make that assessment to the Minister and the government and make recommendations. that we believe necessary to address a worrying increase in the pattern of infection transmission, particularly reported in recent days, but which was really established when we began to ease restrictions in early December.
“We believe that we have to act now to protect our society, not just public health, and the experience we have had with the so-called second wave is much lower than in many other countries in the world, in particular Europe where we now have the highest incidence low compared to other countries, and we have skirted significant hospitalizations and, more importantly, mortality, we have also been able to do this by maintaining education and childcare and maintaining health services for people who need them for other things. than Covid.
“We do not want health services and GPs to be filled with Covid when it is a preventable infection.
“We have been able to do all that and we think that if we continue with the transmission that we see at this moment in a very short space of time, we will find ourselves in early January experiencing levels of contagion that begin to put public health. at risk to the extent that it begins to affect our ability to maintain delivery of those truly essential public services. “
Professor Nolan noted that someone who contracts the virus and is between 60 and 65 years old has a 15 in 15 chance of being hospitalized and a 1 in 20 chance of dying.
There has been an increase in infection levels among the younger age groups and they are at risk of infecting older people.
Professor Martin Cormican, HSE leader in infection control, recommended meeting only people you “trust with your life” indoors this Christmas.
He said it was essential for people to offer alcohol to guests the moment they arrived – alcohol gel. If not, guide them to where there is soap and water.
Professor Cormican said: “If you plan to visit an elderly or medically vulnerable person during Christmas, your preparation begins now.
“If you take risks with your health for the next 10 days, do him a favor and stay away. Get to know as few people as possible indoors. Only meet people you trust with your life on the inside.
People should not be pressured to accept an invitation if they want to connect by phone or some other form of communication, he added.
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