How long will the January lockdown last? All details, as Leo Varadkar admits new restrictions ‘cannot be ruled out’

The government hopes to ease pandemic restrictions for two weeks over Christmas, but a closure may be necessary in January, Leo Varadkar said.

The Tanaiste told the Dail on Tuesday that new measures could not be ruled out in the New Year after things smooth out for the festive period.

It was clear to Mr Varadkar that this approach could lead to further restrictions in January.

But he added that it would be much shorter than before, around “two or three weeks.”

“You can’t rule that out. We have seen how the virus, once it reaches a certain point, can go back to exponential growth,” he said.

“If it does happen, we intend to make it much shorter, more like two or three weeks than the six we have experienced.”

The National Public Health Emergency Team met Wednesday to decide on its recommendations to the government, which is expected to make its decision public on Thursday or Friday.

Varadkar declined to comment on reports that three households may be allowed to meet during the holiday season, but suggested that family visits will be allowed.

He said: “We want people to be able to meet their families and friends during the Christmas period.

“We know people will do it anyway. So we better be able to provide it safely.

“Because we have reduced the virus to much lower levels than in Northern Ireland or Great Britain, we believe that we will be able to do that for a much longer period than the five or six days that they are talking about.”

“We hope we can do it for about two weeks.”

Varadkar also suggested that pubs, restaurants, and home visits will be at the end of the row, opening later than Dec. 1, when the closing should end.

He said: “Obviously, we would like to make the maximum reopening starting next week, but we think it is not safe. We think it makes more sense to do a gradual addition of Level Three.

“We know from the data that the highest risk scenarios are people who congregate, particularly in sports or hospitality settings. And people who congregate in private homes. These are the things that we will do towards the end.

“The things that we will do in the beginning are the things that we know are safest, for example, opening stores, opening gyms, allowing people to benefit from personal services, like cutting their hair. It will be haircuts and going shopping before you go out at night. “

He continued: “The idea then is that in January a date will be established in which the restrictions will be tightened again, but again that will depend on the numbers.

“If we can keep the numbers low, we will not re-impose restrictions just for the sake of doing so, we will only re-impose restrictions if we believe the virus is taking off again.”

Although not all the decisions have been made yet, it is possible that Varadkar is taking on the leaders of Northern Ireland.

The restrictions in the north will be lifted for only one week, compared to the two weeks raised by the Tanaiste.

Earlier this week, Deputy Prime Minister Michelle O’Neill expressed hope that strategies in the North and the Republic could be aligned.

“Everyone is looking for a little bit of hope and a little bit of light and we want to be able to give that to them, and the clearer the message is on the two islands, the better position for us to be,” he said. said.

Northern Ireland has taken a common approach to the holiday period with the rest of the UK that will allow three households to mix in a bubble from December 23 to 27.

Anyone traveling to or from Northern Ireland has been given an extra day on each side of the relaxation period, allowing them to make their trips on December 22 and 28.