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PEOPLE who have been socializing in pubs, restaurants, and at each other’s homes need to “think hard” about seeing vulnerable family members during Christmas, Minister Simon Harris warned.
This is because there are 727 more cases of Covid-19 in the Republic of Ireland, the Department of Health confirmed today.
That brings the total number of cases in the state to 80,267.
No further deaths were confirmed, and the total number of deaths from the virus in Ireland stood at 2,158.
Minister Harris’s comments come as the government prepares to tighten Covid-19 restrictions on the hotel industry again as the number of cases of the virus grows.
Both Mr. Harris and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe defended the government’s decision to ease restrictions for the holiday period after the second country shutdown.
Harris argued that while the restrictions are tightening, there is hope, as the Covid-19 vaccine will begin to be administered at the end of the year.
He said the situation with the virus, including the growth of a new strain in the UK, is “deadly serious”.
He said, “We have to look at our contacts. We need to decide how we are going to have a meaningful and safe Christmas …
“If you have been to pubs and restaurants, you have people around the house, you have a lot of social contact, you need to think carefully about whether you want to come into contact with a vulnerable relative during the Christmas period.”
He said Christmas plans need to be tailored to be as safe as possible and urged people to follow public health advice: “Because … as much as we want to see family and friends, none of us want to get sick from each other. other”.
Dr. Tony Holohan, Medical Director of the Department of Health, said; “Our current disease trends are very worrying. The situation has deteriorated rapidly in recent days. A total of 3,837 cases have been reported in the last 7 days. The five-day moving average has risen from 339 on December 17 to 616 on December 21, an increase of 82%. It is as important now as it was in March to limit your contacts and protect your loved ones. “
Donohoe said the government is “deeply aware” of the impact of the restrictions on the hospitality sector, which employs tens of thousands of people.
He said: “What we want to do is strike the right balance between those concerns and public health.
“Tomorrow at the latest, decisions will be made that will be communicated to the country on how that and other sectors can and will need to change for the rest of this year and potentially beyond.”
Harris said: “There is no government in the world that wants to tell people that Christmas plans should be considered …
“But not doing so would have very bad consequences. So it is the right thing and the right thing for the Taoiseach and the Cabinet to do.”
When asked if the Covid-19 restrictions were lifted too early earlier this month, Donohoe replied that the virus was being suppressed at the time.
He said: “What we are finding now is that the situation has changed. And just when the government made a decision there several weeks ago that I believed it was the right decision at the time, because of how quickly circumstances change, what We always have to decide if these decisions are still appropriate and if they lead to protecting the health of our country … As the disease evolves before our eyes … the Government has to be able to change ”.
Of the cases reported today, 359 are men and 366 women. 62 percent are under 45 years old and the average age is 36 years.
Some 311 are in Dublin, 51 in Kilkenny, 48 in Wexford, 44 in Donegal, 44 in Cork and the remaining 229 cases are distributed in the other 19 counties.
Professor Philip Nolan, Chairman of NPHET’s Irish Epidemiological Modeling Advisory Group, said: “We are clearly now in a third wave.
“The virus is spreading very quickly, faster than we have seen at any time since March. The number of cases is growing by at least 5% to 7% per day and, more worryingly, in all age groups. “
This comes as the European Medicines Agency today approved the Pfizer / BioNtech vaccine.
Dr Lorraine Nolan, Executive Director of the Health Products Regulatory Authority, said: “Today we welcome a very significant announcement from the European Medicines Agency in its recommendation to approve a first vaccine for Covid-19 in Europe.
“It is a key advance in our continued efforts to address this pandemic. It will become an additional defense in our set of public health actions to protect ourselves from Covid-19.”
Today, Mr. Harris was asked about Nphet’s advice at the time not to open up both hospitality and home visiting.
He argued that the government had been more conservative than Nphet, and said it suggested opening home visits in early December, for much longer, and allowing more households to mix.
He also said that the new strain of the virus was not being discussed at the time.
Harris said there are no plans to alter the school calendar in January in the event of an increase in the virus.
He said: “What I would rather do today is try to avoid the January surge. We cannot allow ourselves to get into this mentality that the future is inevitable …
“We should ask ourselves what we can do today to prevent it from happening.”
Harris said the possible start of the vaccine launch is “incredible” and that for the first time people will be vaccinated while restrictions are imposed.
“What we have to do, frankly, bluntly, is make sure everyone is alive to get the vaccine.
“That’s the job, keeping people alive, so we can get rid of this.”
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