Coronavirus Ireland: Dublin Faces ‘Local Lockdown’ In Days As Covid-19 Cases Rise

Dublin could face a further slide into a form of ‘local lockdown’ in a few days as coronavirus cases continue to rise.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said there is “a very real and strong possibility” that more restrictions will come into effect in the capital.

The new public health measures for Dublin went into effect at midnight, however the Finance Minister said the guidance could change again by the end of the week.

The capital, like the rest of the country, is currently at level two of the new ‘Living with Covid’ roadmap.

But when asked if Dublin could move to level three in the next few days, Donohoe told RTE Morning Ireland: “There is a great possibility that that will happen.

“Our medical and public health experts will provide guidance to the government on this issue, which will then be considered by the government, it will be consistent with the framework we published and then we will make a recommendation and a decision on the matter to the people of Dublin.

“I think it’s fair to say that there is a very real chance that the guidance could change even more for Dublin, but the reason we have released this additional guidance for Dublin, in addition to the level two guidance, is to see what can be done. do to continue to keep those who live and work in Dublin as safe as possible. “

He also said that he would advise people not to travel outside of Dublin to attend a wedding.

“The reason I would do that is that I absolutely understand how important and life changing and how important a good wedding and a good wedding day is, I absolutely appreciate it,” she continued.

“But a wedding ceremony is meant to share the hope for a better future, bring the family together to celebrate a wonderful day, and I ask everyone to consider how we would feel about a wedding if we found out later in several days or weeks, the wedding became a place where disease spread. “

Meanwhile, yesterday Tanaiste Leo Varadkar made a special appeal to the people of Dublin, saying that they must follow the “Four Ws” to limit the spread of Covid-19.

Any additional restrictions will be evaluated based on a number of factors, including the number of confirmed coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents during the past 14 days.

By this key measure, the capital is by far the worst affected area in the country.

The latest statistics from the Health Protection Surveillance Center show that Dublin has an incidence of 95.1.

The next highest county is Louth, with 66.7, followed by Leitrim with 65.5.

Limerick at 63.1 and Kildare at 61.6 are also areas of some concern.