Early signs current Covid wave is “starting to level off”, says Leo Varadkar

However, The Tánaiste also said more extreme restrictions cannot be ruled out yet.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said the Government has seen early signs the current Covid-19 wave is "starting to level off". The comments come after a new range of restrictions to combat rising Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations were announced last week. However, there have been fears that Ireland may still see more severe restrictions be reintroduced in the run-up to the Christmas season, such as a lockdown. Speaking on Tuesday night, Varadkar said more restrictions over the next couple of weeks cannot be ruled out, before giving the public some hope. "In the last couple of days, we've seen the positivity rate starting to level off - perhaps the cases starting to level off, " he explained. "But it's too early to say that now. We'd like to give another week or two to see how things go but unfortunately, it's not possible to rule out anything at this stage. "But, we will as a Government seek to avoid reimposing extreme restrictions if we can at all." On Tuesday (23 November), the Health Protection Surveillance Centre was notified of 3,666 new confirmed cases of Covid-19. As of 8am on Tuesday, 638 Covid-19 patients were hospitalised, of which 130 were in intensive care units. https://twitter.com/roinnslainte/status/1463198888022712320 Main image via Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie