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Level 5 lockdown restrictions will be extended for at least another six weeks, with only schools and the construction sector likely to be able to reopen before Easter.
A “revamped” Living with Covid plan will be released the following week, but leading figures involved in drafting the document say it is unlikely to provide definitive timelines or dates for the reopening of the society and economy.
Subject to Cabinet approval, the current Level 5 restrictions, expiring on March 5, are likely to be extended until at least April 12.
In addition to keeping most stores and hotels closed, the current ‘stay at home’ notice and the 5km travel limit are also likely to be unchanged. – although Tánaiste Leo Varadkar is pushing for households to meet in the open air after March 5.
The government is mainly focused on the gradual reopening of schools and the construction sector next month, with close monitoring of the impact of the increased movement of parents and construction workers likely to dictate whether further restrictions can be eased in April. .
But the nonessential retail and hotel sectors will be closed for several more weeks. Pubs, restaurants, bars, and many hotels are not expected to reopen until May or June at the earliest and with a focus on outdoor eating and drinking. But the reopening will depend on the number of cases, hospitalizations and the rate of reproduction of the virus.
The revised plan will outline a path for reopening, but it does not currently intend to give final dates or deadlines for the sectors. – with a strong desire in government to ensure that this is the last shutdown of the pandemic.
“The revised plan will attempt to outline a path, but it will not be final and the government wants to avoid an open-close-open-close approach,” said a senior government source.
A second senior government source said it made sense to try to reduce the number of daily cases to very low levels, while high-risk people were vaccinated until the end of March.
But a third government source pointed out that some form of movement restriction would be needed to ensure that mass vaccination centers could operate safely. “There will be no big reopening,” the source said. “Vaccination plays a very important role in all this, but it cannot be threatened either.”
Ministers hope that improved weather in the spring and summer will pave the way for easing some restrictions on outdoor gatherings. Mr Varadkar told his parliamentary party last night that the number of Covid-19 cases was dropping at a rate of 30 percent week over week. He said the closure was working and this strengthened the case to reopen schools in February and March.
He said that the revision of the existing Living with Covid plan later this month would take into account the vaccination program and the emergence of new variants of the virus. He said the government would give continuation dates for several pandemic support plans that were due to expire at the end of March.
Meanwhile, there was a large increase in the number of family outbreaks of the virus last week in private homes, from 37 to 72.
The most infectious strain of the virus in the UK means that the closest contacts of an infected person test positive.
People who are close contacts will now be screened twice – including day 10 of exhibition. If their second test on day 10 finds that the virus is “not detected”, they can end their movement restriction at that time.
Meanwhile, yesterday there were 54 Covid-related deaths and 1,006 newly diagnosed cases, indicating that slow but steady progress is being made to slow the spread.
The number of Covid-19 patients in the hospital has dropped to 1,032, but 173 who are seriously ill remain in intensive care, with 40 more hospitalizations in the previous 24 hours.
Among the new cases yesterday, 516 were in Dublin, 63 in Cork, 46 in Galway, 43 in Meath and 36 in Louth, while the remaining 302 were distributed in all other counties.
Vaccination figures against Covid-19 show that 153,654 first doses have been administered as of last Sunday; 86,833 people have received the two doses.
In the meantime, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization will review the World Health Organization’s recommendation that the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine can be given to adults of all ages.
Online editors
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