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Inter-county travel restrictions are likely to be tightened before the end of the year.
The government was planning to allow people to travel between counties until January 6, despite Nphet warning against the move.
However, due to a significant increase in Covid-19 cases and the emergence of a new strain of the virus in Britain, restrictions on domestic travel are now expected to come in place.
Ahead of tomorrow’s cabinet meeting, a senior government source said party leaders are considering a series of dates between St. Stephen’s Day and December 30 to reimpose the inter-county travel ban. A second government source confirmed that dates are being considered.
However, people who spend Christmas outside of their home county will not be forced to rush home once the ban takes effect.
“Inter-county travel will continue to be allowed for essential reasons like work and school, so if someone has gone from Dublin to Tipperary for Christmas they can stay there until they need to go back to school or work,” said a source. high-level government.
Last week, the government planned to allow people to travel between counties until January 6. They also planned to lower limits on social visits to another home on December 30. For the Christmas period, three households can be mixed into one household. Gastronomic restaurants and pubs will close on December 30.
The leaders of the three main political parties will meet today to discuss their next step before a cabinet meeting tomorrow morning.
Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan has indicated that more restrictions are likely to be announced and Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has indicated that inter-county travel will be restricted by January 6.
Speaking on Today with Claire Byrne on RTE Radio One this morning, Minister Coveney said he expects the measures to be enacted before January 6.
“We will do what we always do and make decisions with the facts in front of us to protect people and keep them safe this Christmas. We may need to introduce more restrictions before January 6, in fact I hope that will be the case. But we will have to decide when and what restrictions to introduce given the growth in the numbers that we are seeing every day, ”he said.
“I understand that hoteliers and restaurants have to buy from stock and it is a time of year when these businesses make a significant percentage of their profits and that is why we made the decision eight weeks ago to impose strict restrictions for six weeks to try for free. until the Christmas period.
“Now we are saying that the growth rate of the virus is above expectations and we will have to respond to that, but we will try to do so in a balanced and fair way. We will give certainty to the people immediately after the cabinet tomorrow ”.
Minister Coveney said he does not expect any extension of the school holidays after Christmas even though Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said this morning that it was a consideration that the cabinet would do tomorrow morning.
“No, I think it is highly unlikely. You have to take everything into account, but I would be very surprised if the school year were interrupted. There is no strong evidence to suggest that the virus spreads at school, so I do not anticipate an extension of the vacation. “
Earlier, Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said the cabinet is likely to announce a variety of new restrictions tomorrow.
The Transport Minister said that it is the speed of the increase in the number of cases, rather than the number of cases themselves, that is of most concern to Nphet and the government.
“It is only in the last few days that we have seen this spike that would lead us to re-impose restrictions earlier than originally thought. More restrictions are likely, yes. Before originally planned. In a variety of measures, changes are likely.
Minister Ryan said the increase in cases in recent days has highlighted the need for as many people to get vaccinated as possible, saying it is “the best way out of this.”
It comes after the government banned passenger flights and ferries between Britain and Ireland. The decision was made out of fear of a new strain of the coronavirus that spread more quickly.
The Cabinet will review the 48-hour travel ban tomorrow and it is expected to be extended.
Yesterday, Nphet reported 764 new cases of the coronavirus.
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