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The Government has decided to hold two special meetings on Friday, resulting in the likelihood of Dublin being raised to level 3 of the Covid-19 alert plan by the weekend.
According to reliable sources, the Cabinet subcommittee on Covid-19, chaired by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, will meet on Friday to discuss the latest report of the National Public Health Emergencies Team (NPHET) on the situation, at the national level but particularly in the capital.
If NPHET’s findings are negative, a disembodied Cabinet meeting will be held on Friday afternoon to place Dublin at level three of the five-tier plan.
“If the figures continue as they have been, this only goes in one direction,” said a government source.
NPHET will hold its weekly meeting on Thursday to discuss the latest data and evidence of the prevalence of the virus in Ireland, and to suggest measures to stop or slow its spread.
If it finds that the infections in Dublin have not stabilized and further action is required, preparations will be made for a disembodied Cabinet meeting on Friday to give effect to its findings.
That could mean that Dublin and its population of 1.4 million would be subject to stricter regulations than the other 25 counties. They include a ban on indoor or outdoor social or family gatherings, additional restrictions on indoor dining, as well as telling people not to travel outside the county. No matches or events will be allowed and spectators will not be allowed at any games (such as elite GAA and soccer games) that are held.
As with Dublin this week, a decision can be made to modify some of the tougher restrictions.
It is not known whether the new oversight group, chaired by Secretary General Martin Fraser, will meet to discuss NPHET’s findings as set out in the new medium-term plan. It is understood that it may take several weeks before your membership and terms expire.
Finance Prime Minister Paschal Donohoe said there is a “strong” and “very real” chance that Dublin will be moved to level three in the government’s plans to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Of the 254 most confirmed cases Wednesday by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), 136 are in Dublin.
“I am more concerned than at any time since the end of April,” the chairman of NPHET’s epidemiological modeling advisory group, Professor Philip Nolan, told a news conference on Wednesday.
“If we don’t interrupt the transmission now, return the r number below 1, the model shows that we could have between 500 and 1000 cases per day by October 16, of which 50-60 percent would be in Dublin.”
The latest figures show that the incidence of the disease in the capital is roughly double the national average.
Dublin, with 1,401 cases, recorded an average of 104 cases per 100,000 people in the two weeks through Monday, compared to an average of 53 per 100,000 nationally. Dublin North West had the highest incidence in the state at 152.2 cases per 100,000, while Sligo was the lowest at 9.2 per 100,000.
The figures led Dr. Ronan Glynn, acting medical director, to warn the government that the capital had become a “reservoir of disease” that could put the entire state at risk.
Dublin remains at Level 2, along with the rest of the State, on the Government’s five-point Covid-19 scale, but additional restrictions have been announced and the expectation is that the county may move to Level 3 next week.
Holidays
Donohoe said people who live in Dublin who are considering vacationing elsewhere in the state should reschedule and those in the county who plan to have or attend weddings outside of the capital should reconsider this.
His colleague, Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath, said there has been no instruction for the public not to visit Dublin, but that people should avoid doing so unless necessary.
Both men defended the government’s handling of the pandemic after it received criticism for not clearly communicating its medium-term strategy Living with Covid-19 after it was published on Tuesday.
Level 2 limits the number of visitors allowed in a home to six people from two or three other homes, up to 15 people can gather outdoors from up to three homes, outdoor sports training is allowed for up to 15 people (except for professional teams) and up to 100 people can watch sporting events outdoors and 50 people indoors.
Level 3 limits visitors to a home or garden to people from another household, travel is restricted to your county or region, except for work, educational or essential reasons, wedding attendance is reduced from 50 to 25, no they allow indoor gatherings (including reunions, theaters, cinemas, art venues), only individual indoor sports training is allowed, and visits to long-term residential care facilities, including nursing homes, are suspended.
Shouldn’t travel
Donohoe told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that until the number of cases in Dublin begins to decline, the advice remains that people should not travel outside of the city or county.
He said that at all times the Government would be guided by the advice of medical experts and that the National Public Health Emergency Team would provide further advice to the Government on Thursday, after which there was “a very real possibility” that Dublin would move. at Level three. He added that all decisions will be made with the aim of saving lives.
McGrath told RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne show that the hotel industry in Dublin remained open, the city remained open for business, but the government was asking people to be cautious and use their judgment.
He said the Cabinet would not shy away from making unpopular public health decisions and that there was “a distinct possibility” that Dublin would move to Level 3 this weekend.
“This is difficult, none of this is easy, we are all tired,” he said, adding that the public must “be patient with us,” since “we all know the consequences if we don’t do it,” we act when necessary.
Mr. McGrath said that the Government’s decision on Dublin to include it in Tier 2 but with additional restrictions reflected exactly what NPHET had recommended.
“This is complicated, we like the nuances and details here. But I do not accept the hyperbole and exaggeration of certain voices of the opposition in the last 24 hours (about how the pandemic is being handled) ”.
Wedding
When asked about a case brought by Dublin Labor Party DT Duncan Smith about a couple from his constituency getting married outside of Dublin shortly, Donohoe said he would urge them to reconsider and not leave Dublin. The minister also said that anyone from Dublin considering a stay elsewhere in the country should reschedule. He said he expected hosting providers to be flexible with deposits.
He defended Ceann Comhairle’s decision to stop Dáil’s proceedings on Tuesday when Health Minister Stephen Donnelly underwent a Covid-19 test.
The Dáil was a workplace and was subject to the same guidelines as the public, he said. What had happened had been “totally understandable,” he said, but admitted that a temporary postponement might have been more appropriate.
Mr Smith said the Government should have clearly placed Dublin on Level 2 or 3 on Tuesday.
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