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The National Health Emergencies Team has recommended tonight that the state move to Level 5 restrictions for a period of four weeks to curb a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases.
Such a measure would have serious economic and social implications and has taken the government by surprise.
The cabinet has yet to discuss such a significant escalation in restrictions. At the moment, most counties are at level 2, with the exception of Dublin and Donegal, which are at level 3.
It remains to be seen if the NPHET recommendations will be adopted or if there will be pushback at the government level.
It is understood that an NPHET meeting earlier on Sunday decided that improved measures were needed due to serious concern over the rate of spread of the virus.
Senior health sources said NPHET members were “very concerned” by recent trends in the growth of the virus.
The team was concerned about the trajectory of the virus in all the metrics it measures, including the incidence rate of five days, one week and 14 days.
“Everything is going in one direction,” the source said.
The NPHET meeting was organized on short notice on Saturday in light of the deteriorating caseload across the board. About 613 new cases were reported on Saturday.
While the NPHET advice was shared with the government tonight, it is likely that tonight or tomorrow Medical Director Dr. Tony Holohan, who returned from an extended period of leave taken for personal reasons to send a letter in which he formally state your position to chair today’s meeting.
Level 5 restrictions will keep people home except when exercising within five kilometers of their home; no visitors to your home, no social gatherings other than funerals or weddings, so-called wet pubs should be closed, unless they can offer a take out service.
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However, all educational facilities, including schools, kindergartens and universities, will remain open. At the moment, tertiary universities have level three restrictions and tuition has been moved online whenever possible.
Evaluate tips
The Government will then need to evaluate NPHET’s advice. This process may involve input from the group of senior officials led by Martin Fraser, the highest ranking official in the Taoiseach Department, and the Cabinet Covid subcommittee.
Earlier, government sources indicated that there were no plans to hold a disembodied Cabinet meeting tonight.
A total of 364 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in the state on Sunday, with no new deaths related to the condition.
The total of Covid-19 related deaths in the Republic of Ireland stands at 1,810, and the total confirmed cases stands at 38,032.
Of the cases reported today, 195 are in men and 168 in women, 74% in people under 45 years of age, 27% are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case, and 42 cases have been identified as due to community transmission.
Of the new cases on Sunday, 100 were in Dublin, 55 in Cork and 31 in Donegal. There were 24 cases in Limerick, 23 in Galway, 17 in Clare, 14 in Sligo, 13 in Roscommon, 10 in Kerry, eight in Tipperary, eight in Wicklow, seven in Kildare, six in Kilkenny, six in Offaly, five in Cavan, five in May and five in Meath, with the remaining 27 cases in nine counties.
Admissions for Covid-19 to hospital and intensive care have remained relatively stable in recent days, as the number of new cases increased substantially.
Twenty-two virus patients were in the ICU this morning, the same as the previous Wednesday. Hospitalized patients increased from 122 to 134 during the period.
Growing concern
NPHET met on short notice Sunday amid growing concern over rising levels of Covid-19 diagnoses.
HSE figures show there were a total of 132 confirmed Covid-19 cases in the hospital as of 8 p.m. Saturday night, an increase from 114 on Thursday. Statistics on Friday’s total were not immediately available on the HSE website.
There are 20 patients in intensive care.
Asked earlier if level four restrictions would be imposed in some parts of the country, Green Party leader and Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said: “I hope we can avoid that. I think we will have to do everything possible to avoid it.
When asked if the government was considering a “circuit breaker” lockout, which is being observed by the delegate government in Stormont, Mr. Ryan said: “We haven’t discussed it here yet. We put those five levels and that is the approach that we are going to take.
“The government has not been looking at circuit breakers or deviating from that approach,” he said.
Speaking earlier on Sunday, Public Spending and Reform Minister Michael McGrath said he was concerned about the growth of the virus in recent weeks.
“The figures are deeply worrying and the current trend we are witnessing is not sustainable,” he told RTÉ Radio’s This Week program.
Healthcare workers
The figures also show that there have been 301 cases of Covid-19 among healthcare workers in the last fortnight, nearly 6 percent of all cases.
Dublin has the highest cumulative incidence of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, having once again surpassed Cavan’s figure in recent days. Kerry has had the fewest cases relative to population.
Three of the four countries on Ireland’s “green list” now have incidences of the virus above the threshold of 25 per 100,000 people, according to the latest figures from the European Center for Disease Control.
Figures for Cyprus, Liechtenstein and Latvia exceed the limit for inclusion in the green list of countries for which there is no self-restriction requirement for incoming travelers. Based on current figures, only Finland would qualify for inclusion on the list when it is updated next Thursday.
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