22 October reopening not guaranteed as Micheál Martin warns “pandemic has not gone away”

"That is a matter of concern."

The Taoiseach has warned that the major easing of restrictions planned for 22 October can't be guaranteed as the "pandemic has not gone away". Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Micheál Martin has said that a final decision on reopening will not be made until next week. He said there are "some issues of concern with Covid", with a "sudden increase" of cases adding that they "will weigh everything up" before making a decision. "Presentations were made to officials and I received a briefing on that this afternoon in respect of the growth of the seven-day incidence and in terms of the pattern of disease affecting all age groups now at this stage", he said. "That is a matter of concern. That is what I am saying right now and therefore we have to feed that into whatever decisions we make early next week." Speaking in the Dáil earlier in the day he said that the "pandemic has not gone away" and "requires all of us to continue to be careful." It comes as Dr Ronan Glynn confirmed that "two out of every three people in intensive care" are unvaccinated against Covid-19. He said almost 30,000 adults haven't come forward for vaccination, while an additional 70,000 have only had one dose. Main Image: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie.