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Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said that existing Covid-19 restrictions must have “a chance to work” before new restrictions are considered, including school closings.
Mr. Varadkar said there has been an “explosion of cases beyond any of our models” and that “additional restrictions could not be ruled out.”
“But we have the existing restrictions a chance to function,” Varadkar told RTÉ radio’s This Week program. He said it was “the government’s firm intention to open the schools.”
“We have no advice from public health authorities that we should close schools,” he added, although he said there will be more assessments of the situation in the coming days.
ASTI President Anne Piggott said its members were “very, very concerned” about going back to school.
“We want guarantees of safety in schools,” he said.
Mr. Varadkar also said that intensive care beds in private hospitals could be used by the public system if needed. When asked if there was a danger of the hospitals being invaded, Varadkar said: “I would not go that far yet.” However, he said “we have to turn off the tap”.
“If patients continue to enter at the rate that they are currently entering, then we will have a difficult time,” he said.
When asked about delaying the second injection of the vaccine so that more people could take advantage of the initial injection, Mr. Varadkar said: “That will not be a political decision. It would largely be guided by the advice of the National Immunization Advisory Council in this regard. I know that is what they have decided to do in the UK, this is what they have decided not to do in the US And it is a matter of judgment: does it give 200,000 people full protection or does it give 400,000 people partial protection? ? We will rely on the advice of vaccine experts before making a decision on this. “
Asked if the Government had made the wrong decision at the end of November to open hospitality spaces, the tánaiste said that “nobody can answer that definitively. . . maybe the right decision would have been not to accept Nphet’s advice and not go to Level 3 at all, maybe extend Level 5 for a longer period, but you can only make those decisions based on the advice and information you have in that moment. “
Earlier, Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said that the government could lower the limit on people’s exercise distance from 5 km to 2 km if Level 5 restrictions do not sufficiently reduce the number of Covid-19 cases.
Ryan told Newstalk radio that other measures could be taken in addition to the Level 5 restrictions, such as reducing travel from 5 km to 2 km, as happened during the first lockdown if infections did not decrease.
“That’s for a week or two if the numbers don’t start to flatten out and then decline,” the minister said.
Vaccinations
He said vaccines should be done 24 hours a day, seven days a week, once the Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines are available in Ireland.
When asked to comment on criticism that Ireland was slow to launch the vaccine, Ryan said the HSE had used the first few days to “test the application” and ensure people’s trust in the delivery system. Starting Monday, 40,000 vaccinations a week will be carried out with an initial focus on the 17,000 frontline healthcare workers and 75,000 employees and residents in long-term nursing homes, he said.
While the HSE previously said vaccines would be given 9 to 5, five days a week, Ryan said vaccine services would be extended to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, once the European Agency for Medications approved by Moderna and Vaccines AstraZeneca. Once they are available, “I will have to be on my mind 24/7 with all my hands on deck,” he said.
“1,700 people have already been trained to implement it, so there is no shortage of resources or momentum to get it out. It is in our interest to deliver it to as many people as possible as quickly and as safely as possible.
“We are not going to store any vaccine. In other words, as soon as we get them, we will implement them. “
On the trip from the UK to Ireland, Ryan said meetings would be held on Sunday to discuss the ban that runs until January 6. Other precautionary measures are being considered, such as requiring travelers to undergo a PCR test before leaving the UK and isolating them upon arrival, he said.
In the coming weeks, only essential workers, such as truck drivers and other transport operators bringing vital supplies, should travel between the UK and Ireland, the minister said.
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