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The Cabinet will meet today to discuss the possibility of providing more support to companies during the coronavirus outbreak.
Speaking at the Late Late Show last night, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar indicated that wage and unemployment supports will be extended as a result of Covid-19 restrictions.
Varadkar said Ireland as a nation had successfully flattened the curve and saved thousands of lives, yet the virus was not suppressed enough to ease the restrictions as much as it would have liked.
He suggested that existing unemployment and wage supports are likely to be extended, and said that neither the Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme nor the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment can last forever, but it would be wrong to disconnect it before those sectors may actually reopen.
He said the GAA All Ireland Championship could possibly be held behind closed doors in August and September, and suggested that some counties could be allowed to ease the restrictions to contain the virus faster than others.
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The Taoiseach also said that wearing face masks could be recommended in certain scenarios.
Varadkar also said that reopening the country could be more difficult than closing it.
He said that there will be difficulties and that there will be disputes and disputes, but said that the country can overcome it.
He also said he does not expect a new government until June, saying the country needs it.
The current government works well, he said, but it cannot go on like this forever.
The government yesterday established its roadmap to ease Covid-19 restrictions.
The plan sets out five stages to unlock restrictions, at three-week intervals.
Starting next Tuesday, May 5, people in their 70s who have been in hiding can leave their homes if they avoid all contact with other people.
The 2 km travel limit currently applied to exercise for the general population will be extended to 5 km.
The roadmap will start on May 18 and this is what is scheduled to happen at each stage:
Phase 1 (May 18)
- Allow outdoor meetings between people from different homes.
- Open childcare for healthcare workers
- Staged return of outdoor workers
- Open retailers that are primarily outdoor or those that were open during the first level of restriction (eg, opticians)
- Opening of certain public services outdoors.
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Phase 2 (June 8)
- Allow home visits
- Develop plans and supports to open businesses taking into account the safety of staff and customers.
- Open small points of sale and shopping malls where social distancing can be observed.
- Open public libraries
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Phase 3 (June 29)
- Allow small social gatherings
- Opening day-care centers, nurseries and preschools for essential worker children gradually
- Return to work for those with low levels of interaction
- Open non-essential points of sale with entry and exit at street level
- Open courtyards
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Phase 4 (July 20)
- The opening of nurseries, kindergartens and preschools for the children of all other workers gradually
- Returning to work for those who cannot work from home
- Gradual relief of restrictions for higher risk services (eg hairdressers)
- Opening of museums, galleries, places of worship.
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Phase 5 (August 10)
- Allow larger social gatherings
- Return to work in all sectors.
- In phases, from the beginning of the academic year 2020/2021, opening of primary and secondary schools and third-level institutions.
- Further relaxation of restrictions on high-risk retail services.
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The Government said that the risk of a second wave of the virus is always present.
In a statement yesterday, he said: “As a country, we can only go from one phase to the next if the virus remains under control between each phase.”
The statement also reiterated that there will be a long-term need for physical distance, good hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, regular cleaning, and for people to stay home and isolate themselves if they are sick.
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