“Maybe it’ll change significantly by Friday, but as things stand I don’t think we’re there yet.”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that the numbers around ICU admissions, new cases and deaths due to Covid-19 “just aren’t good enough yet” to lift safety restrictions on the public to combat the spread of Covid-19.
Speaking at a Community Assessment Hub for Covid-19 patients in DCU on Wednesday, the Taoiseach said: “I don’t think I’d be out of school by saying that those numbers just aren’t good enough yet.
“Maybe it’ll change significantly by Friday, but as things stand I don’t think we’re there yet.”
Varadkar also said that he does hope that the process of reopening the country can begin soon, and that plans are beginning to be put together.
“We expect to be in a position to share the exit strategy with the Irish public in the next couple of days, certainly over the weekend. We’ll be getting new advice from the Chief Medical Officer on Friday as to when we should start that process of reopening the economy and the country.”
As it stands, the current safety restrictions will remain in place until next Tuesday (5 May), but it is expected that they will be extended.
Tuesday’s figures saw another 59 deaths in Ireland in connection with Covid-19 and a further 229 new confirmed cases.
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