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Taoiseach Micheál Martin has confirmed that the Cabinet has agreed to re-impose Level 5 restrictions, with some modifications, due to the increasing number of Covid-19 cases.
Mr. Martin said that the government was acting “quickly and aggressively” in response to rising infection rates. He said he was responsible for proceeding assuming the new Covid-19 variant was already in Ireland.
It is understood that the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) warned the government that the number of cases would increase in the coming days, surpassing 900 per day on Tuesday. The growth of infections is now 10 percent a day, which, if it continues unchecked, would threaten to overwhelm the health service within a few weeks.
The restrictions will be reviewed on January 12, but Tánaiste Leo Varadkar warned that they could be in effect in the coming months.
Restaurants and pubs serving food will close at 3pm on Christmas Eve. The hairdressing and personal services will close from Christmas Eve.
Hotels will be allowed to open on Christmas, after which they will be allowed to serve guests only.
Martin said the schools would also remain open.
Non-essential retail stores will be allowed to remain open, but stores will be asked not to make sales. Gyms, leisure centers and swimming pools will remain open, but only for individual exercise. People will be allowed to train outdoors, but only in groups of 15 or less. Sports matches cannot be held apart from elite ones.
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.
Inter-county travel will be banned from St. Stephen’s Day, but people who have already traveled for Christmas will not be asked to return home. However, once they return home from their visit, no further inter-county trips can be made.
Christmas religious services may take place, but services will move online after December 25. Churches will remain open for private prayer.
Travel restrictions from Great Britain will remain in effect until at least December 31.
‘Hope is real’
The Taoiseach said additional financial support will be available for those businesses that have to close.
The Cabinet was also informed that the first vaccinations in the Republic will take place on December 30 or 31. Approximately 10,000 doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine will be available after Christmas.
“Hope is real. There is light at the end of this tunnel. Vaccines are on the way, ”said Mr. Martin.
The moves to tighten the restrictions again follow a dramatic change in mood in the government in recent days and come in response to a surge in infections and warnings from public health experts that the number of cases will rise further. week and that we are in the throes of a third. wave.
“The one thing that remains absolutely constant about this virus is that it is life threatening and if left to spread uncontrollably, it will reach the most vulnerable and they will pay a heavy price,” said the Taoiseach. “Unfortunately, in the last week we have seen an extraordinary growth in the spread of the virus.
“This is the same pattern that we have seen in the UK and across Europe. This morning’s figures suggest that we may now be seeing a daily growth rate of about 10 percent, Martin said.
“Obviously, this is a source of great concern. It just isn’t sustainable.
“While we still do not have firm evidence that the most virulent new strain of the Covid virus is in our country, the growth rate over the last week tells me that the safest and most responsible thing is to proceed with the assumption that it is already here” .
Varadkar once again urged the elderly to protect themselves. “One of the real concerns that we have at the moment is that, unlike the second wave, the virus appears to be affecting the elderly in quite high numbers and that is causing us great concern,” Varadkar told a conference on press in Government Buildings on Tuesday, comparing the situation to the first deadliest wave in March. “Because what is very likely to happen in the next few days, particularly at Christmas, is that young people who have been socializing, perhaps carriers of the virus, mingle with older people during Christmas and that is a recipe for disaster. ”
Addressing the cabinet meeting, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said public health physicians and infectious disease physicians were deeply concerned about how quickly the virus had spread in recent weeks and the new variant of the disease identified in the UK.
‘Good news’
Medical director Dr. Tony Holohan recommended reverting to Level 5 restrictions and “that is what will be considered” by the Cabinet, he said.
The “job right now” was to keep people alive and safe, he said. The best way to do this was to slow down the virus and get the vaccination program up and running quickly.
“On Christmas Day, a large number of people in every county in this country will sit down with their families and have a Christmas day, which they otherwise would not have been if this virus had gotten out of control.”
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