NPHET considers more restrictions including on hospitality and home visits

Are more restrictions on the way?

Socialising in the run-up to Christmas could be affected with new restrictions on household visits and hospitality. The National Public Health Emergency Team met on Thursday night to discuss measures to reduce the spread of Covid-19 in Ireland. Among the items discussed was stricter rules in the hospitality sector, including a ban on booking multiple tables and also reducing numbers to six people per table. Other proposals include that live venues be seated only, which would spell the end for nightclubs which are currently open. In terms of household visits, RTÉ reported that a limit of four households in one home was considered. Currently there are no restrictions on household visits, but it's understood health officials are concerned about vulnerable people who have not received their booster vaccine mixing among those whose vaccine effectiveness may be waning. Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan will write a letter to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly with the recommendations, and Donnelly will then bring the letter to Cabinet for a final decision. The government will meet over the coming days to discuss which measures - if any - they wish to implement. It comes as Dr Holohan said on Thursday that Ireland is starting to see a stabilisation in a number of important indicators of Covid incidence. However, he added that while the progress is "very welcome", the level of disease in the community still remains a concern. "Stabilisation is happening at too high a level," Holohan explained. "The current high incidence is driven by the Delta variant, which, coupled with the presence of the Omicron variant, means that the trajectory of the disease remains uncertain."