Coronavirus: Irish cabinet isolates itself on possible Covid case

The entire Irish cabinet has been told to isolate itself and the Dáil (Irish parliament) has been suspended indefinitely after the country’s Health Minister reported that he was feeling ill.

Stephen Donnelly has contacted his GP for a Covid-19 test, RTÉ reports.

Ceann Comhairle (speaker) said that after “very serious information emerged from today’s events, the cabinet must now isolate itself.”

The Dáil will be postponed until further notice.

The Minister of Climate Action, Communication Networks and Transport, Eamon Ryan, had already been isolating himself, while a member of his household awaits a test for Covid-19.

It comes after the Irish government unveiled a five-stage plan for living with Covid-19, but it also said Dublin faces stricter rules for the next few weeks due to rising infections in the city.

Pubs that do not serve food may reopen on September 21, except in Dublin where they must remain closed

Starting at midnight Tuesday, home visits in the city will be limited to six people from another household.

Elsewhere, the limit will be kept at six visitors from up to three households.

The plan was outlined at a government press conference on Tuesday.

Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Micheál Martin said it is designed to provide a roadmap on how to live with Covid-19 for the next six months.

He said level five is the most restrictive and similar to what happened during the shutdown in March.

He said that the country is currently at level two, but due to the situation in Dublin, there were special modifications for the capital.

Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar told the press conference that virus cases have increased tenfold in Dublin in the last two months.

Analysis by BBC News NI Dublin correspondent Shane Harrison

The Living with Covid-19 document is the Irish government’s roadmap for the next six months on how to deal with the health, economic and social consequences of the coronavirus.

So Tuesday’s post is in a way an attempt to build on recent Covid successes – reopening schools after closure and dealing with calculated results on state tests, though not without the unhappiness of some students.

But the publication of the five-stage plan has been overshadowed in many ways by the tenfold increase in virus cases in Dublin over the past two months.

The Irish capital won’t have to endure the recent closures in Kildare, Laois and Offaly counties, but pubs that don’t serve food won’t be able to reopen, unlike the rest of the country.

The government always knew that closing society and the economy because of the virus would be the easy part, compared to reopening when vested interests would be in the forefront seeking a special waiver for their sector.

The next six months are likely to see more proof of that.

Martin also told the press conference that Ireland will sign up for the European Commission’s travel plan.

That plan has yet to be revealed, but it is known to include countries on the green, amber and red lists.

He indicated that crowds of 200 people will be allowed to attend sporting events where the capacity of a stadium is 5,000.