Level 5 blockade of Ireland: special cabinet meeting organized with passage to the tighter restrictions envisaged

A special cabinet meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, and talks on Ireland will move to a “full level 5” lockdown on the table.

Today’s reports suggested that the government was ready to implement a ‘full Level 5’ set of restrictions in the coming days for fear of an increase in cases.

Cabinet ministers were said to be concerned about the number of people hospitalized with coronavirus and the rate of positivity in testing rates.

The number of hospitals is “increasing dramatically” and Dr Tony Holohan said there was a “worrying trend” of increasing hospital admissions in Ireland “outpacing the number of people hospitalized in wave three than wave two”.

It is suggested that “it cannot be ruled out” that the government will adopt new measures with stricter restrictions in the coming days, according to reports.

The current Covid-19 restrictions will be discussed in tomorrow’s meeting with the country possibly set to make a jump from Level 5 minus or Level 5 with exceptions as it has been coined to a full Level 5 lockdown.

It comes as Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said Level 5 restrictions could remain in place until the highest-risk people in the country are vaccinated.

He said: “The Level 5 restrictions will really only go into effect for the next few days.

“We know that this will not be reflected in a drop in the number of cases until the first week or two of January.”

“No matter what is done, we would expect to see an increase in cases through the New Year.”

“I think with the vaccine now available, I think there would be a case in telling the Irish people that we should maintain these restrictions until such time as we have protected our healthcare workers and the most vulnerable.

“But that also needs to be reflected in the kind of restrictions that we put in place because they need to be sustainable over a long period if not just three or four weeks.