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The renewed Level 5 restrictions announced by the government to contain Covid-19 are likely to be in effect for more than two months, the Tánaiste said on Tuesday, although they should be reviewed on January 12.
“It will probably be towards the end of February or the beginning of March before a critical mass of the population is vaccinated and I think that we must operate on the basis that these restrictions will be in place until then,” Varadkar said at a press conference after the announcement of the Taoiseach earlier in the day.
Mr Varadkar said that we were seeing “exponential growth” in the number of people infected with the virus who, “on its current trajectory”, would see the number of cases at 1,000 a day before Christmas and “maybe 2,000 a day before. New Year’s Eve. ”
“We don’t know if the new variant is circulating in Ireland, but we are operating on the basis that it is,” Varadkar said, adding that it would be very difficult to get the R number, the rate at which the virus spreads per person. infected, less than one.
Under the restrictions, restaurants and pubs serving food will close at 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve. The hairdressing and personal services will close from Christmas Eve. Non-essential retail stores will be allowed to remain open, but stores will be asked not to make sales.
Two home visits will be allowed until St. Stephen’s Day, but then it will be reduced to one home until December 31, and home visits will be banned entirely in the new year.
Varadkar said that while retail was exempt from the closures, if the numbers continued to rise, they could face closures in the future. The Government has also decided to expand and extend a variety of Covid-19 supports for businesses, including a double payment of the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme payment, paid to companies forced to close, over the next two weeks, and weekly payments. they will resume after that. Hotels will also be included in the payment, even if they are open to a small number of guests.
The Labor Wage Subsidy Plan will also be maintained and there will be a commercial rate holiday in the first quarter of the year. Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said the briefings by public health officials were “very sobering.”
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the third wave of the virus was different from the second wave seen in October and November, and the government was concerned, on the advice of public health officials, that the hospital system could be under pressure.
The second wave saw limited hospital admissions and low mortality, but Mr. Martin said infections among older people meant this wave could be very different.
When asked if this would be the last time Level 5 restrictions would be imposed, Martin said: “I can’t say if this is the last or not.”
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