[ad_1]
Irish living abroad should not plan to travel home for Christmas due to the risk of importing Covid-19, Medical Director Dr. Tony Holohan has warned.
Christmas home visits will be considered nonessential trips and not recommended, he said.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar had advised people who intended to return home from abroad for Christmas on Thursday not to book flights “for the time being” due to the uncertainty of the pandemic.
However, Dr. Holohan went further, bluntly dismissing such Christmas trips even on compassionate grounds.
“The trips that normally happen at Christmas should be considered non-essential this Christmas,” he told a briefing by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) on Thursday night.
Expressing concern about the high rates of the virus in most European countries, he said that the re-importation of cases through travel abroad was one of the most significant risks facing the state.
“People who potentially return for the Christmas period are experiencing a much higher level of infection. That will be one of the biggest risks for us if we make the progress we hope to make. “
‘Things will be different’
He also warned that “things are going to be different this Christmas” and that it was “too early” for people to make plans for the holiday season.
Large-scale alcohol-related social events and other activities that would occur on a “normal” Christmas, such as office parties and large family gatherings, “are not going to be possible,” he warned.
With the number of cases halved in the last fortnight, the state has the incidence of Covid-19 with the fastest decline in Europe.
Midway through the current six-week period of level 5 coronavirus restrictions, officials said all the indicators were positive, but added that “we are only in the middle of the curve.”
Nphet will meet on November 26 to decide what measures it will recommend to the government to launch from December, when some restrictions are likely to be eased.
One more death from Covid-19 and 395 new cases were reported Thursday night.
Hospital outbreaks
Meanwhile, large outbreaks of Covid-19 in hospitals in Naas, Letterkenny and Limerick have severely disrupted services.
Some 161 hospital employees in Limerick, 77 in Naas and 55 in Letterkenny are out of work due to infection or positive case contacts, forcing wards to close and elective work postponed.
The health chiefs considered closing the Naas General Hospital, where only critical care services are provided, but decided not to do so due to the knock-on effect on other hospitals, it is understood.
The outbreaks in hospitals “have not completely stabilized,” said Dr. Vida Hamilton, HSE’s hospital group leader, but they were being managed appropriately.
The Northern Executive agreed on Thursday a one-week extension of the current Covid-19 restrictions, after days of bitter division among ministers. Cafes, hair salons and beauty salons will be able to reopen in the North as of November 20.
When asked if he would advise against cross-border travel given the increased incidence of Covid-19 in Northern Ireland and the planned easing of restrictions there starting next week, Dr. Holohan noted that a 5km travel limit was in force in the state “if you” are near the border or hundreds of miles from it.
He said his colleagues in the North were making “great strides” in reducing infections and he hoped that the decision of the North Executive “would highlight” this improvement.
[ad_2]