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The country faces a lengthy lockdown that will last until March, as public health officials now believe it is “inconceivable” that the mutant strain of Covid-19 found in England is no longer here.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar noted that while the last round of restrictions for the Christmas period will be reviewed on January 12, the lockdown is likely to continue until next spring.
“It is difficult to speculate on the timeline. But I think it will probably be late February or early March before a critical mass of the population is vaccinated, “Varadkar said.
“I think we should operate on the basis that these restrictions may be in effect until that happens, although we will review the situation on January 12.
“Maybe we can get some positive decisions on January, but I think we should all operate on the basis that these restrictions will be in place for the first two months of next year.”
Varadkar hinted that some businesses could be ordered to remain closed until next summer. The reopening grants would be available “in the spring or summer” to help businesses “when we are in a position to tell them they can reopen.”
New Covid-19 infections doubled in the space of just one week, and Mr Varadkar warned of “exponential growth.”
New cases are expected to exceed 1,000 the day before Christmas and could reach 2,000 the day before New Year’s Eve.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said public health officials saw as “inconceivable” that the new strain of the virus found in England is no longer in Ireland and is behind the rapid increase in cases.
Evidence
“While we still do not have firm evidence that the new and most virulent strain of the Covid virus is in our country, the growth rate over the last week tells me that the safest and most responsible thing to do is to proceed with it assuming it is already here” said Mr. Martin.
The Cabinet decided to reimpose the Level 5 restrictions as of Christmas, and all restaurants and gastronomic pubs will close tomorrow at 3pm..
Schools will reopen as planned after the Christmas break and most retail establishments will be able to remain open.
However, the requirement to stay within one’s county takes effect again after Christmas and people can travel beyond their county until the end of St. Stephen’s Day.
If people stay in a different county over Christmas, they are allowed to stay in that location, but there should be no new inter-county travel once they return home.
Home visits from two other homes are maintained until the end of Saint Stephen’s Day. A one other household rule will then apply until the end of the year. As of January 1, visits in private homes or gardens are not allowed, except to care for the elderly or vulnerable.
Christmas Day religious services may still take place, but must then come back online, though places of worship may remain open for private prayer.
While non-essential retail stores will be allowed to remain open, there will be no post-Christmas sales.
The Government will tell the National Retail Forum today its reasoning, which is to avoid crowds in urban and municipal centers. “There will be no sales events,” Varadkar said. “People shouldn’t rush to the stores and they shouldn’t be crowded in stores or on the streets for the next few days. We trust the retailers to make sure that is not the case. “
Gyms, leisure centers and swimming pools will remain open, but hotels will only be able to cater for essential non-social and non-tourist purposes, except for guests who have already booked and who register until Valentine’s Day.
The first doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine arrive in Ireland on Saturday or Sunday, with the vaccines starting before the New Year.
The deployment to the most vulnerable begins on December 30 with 10,000 doses.
However, speaking in RTÉ Stellar hour Last night, Varadkar said that tens of thousands of doses will arrive in the county every week from the beginning of January.
“Starting in February and March (we hope) that the vaccine will be distributed to GPs, pharmacies, also mass vaccination centers, 15 of them throughout the country,” he added.
Speaking earlier in the day, Mr. Varadkar said that the Government had acted as a result of the rapid increase in new cases, the positivity rate and hospital admissions.
“In the week that began on November 30, the average number of cases reported per day was 269.
“In the week that started on December 14, it was just 287, just a little bit higher,” he said.
But earlier this week it had risen to 549 new cases a day.
The number of people who tested positive increased from 2.7% on November 24 to 4.6% on December 15.
Varadkar said the virus was growing exponentially and that the latest figures had “surprised us all.”
Irish independent
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