The Government of Ireland has announced a new lockdown to contain the coronavirus epidemic. It will start at midnight on Wednesday 21 October and will run for six weeks. The country is the first in the European Union to decide to impose a new total closure: on Monday, Wales, in the UK, had introduced 17-day lockdown from Friday 23 October to 9 November.
The prime minister explained that the new restrictions are currently probably the strictest in Europe, but that, given the increase in infections, they are also necessary: the effort over the next six weeks, he said, could give the opportunity to “Celebrate Christmas in a meaningful way”. The government’s decision was made after the National Public Health Emergency Team (which provides guidance and advice on the outbreak) sent a letter to the Minister of Health saying that a six-week period was the minimum necessary to bring the number of new daily cases at an acceptable level for the health system. The new lockdown, it is specified in press release of the government, also aims to support families by keeping schools and childcare facilities open, to protect non-COVID-19 health services and to protect the most vulnerable people.
Micheál Martin asked all people to stay home. Transfers will be allowed to shop, go to the pharmacy, for vital family reasons, such as providing assistance to children, the elderly or vulnerable people. He said they will have to close museums, libraries, all non-essential retail businesses including bars and restaurants, while home delivery and takeaway services will remain active.
Only essential workers will be ‘allowed to go to work’ and citizens will only be allowed to play sports within five kilometers of their residence. Martin said that schools and childcare facilities are part of essential activities and must therefore remain open “because we cannot and will not allow the future of our children and young people to be other victims of this disease”. Masses will take place online, a maximum of 25 people can attend weddings and 10 funerals.
The ban on visits between different families and indoor events will also be extended, although two families will be able to meet in outdoor places such as parks and always within the limit of five kilometers. “I understand that social isolation and anxiety are a very real problem for many people and especially for those who live alone,” said Martin, so people living this situation will be allowed to have another family as support. which they can visit or from which they can receive visits.
The government has said that “there will be a penalty” for those who violate the five-kilometer restrictions and that public transport will operate at 25 percent of the capacity of the means to be available only to workers and students. Unlike the previous lockdown decided in March, professional-level sports will be allowed behind closed doors across the country. The government finally decided on a suspension of evictions and an extension of the unemployment benefit linked to the pandemic.
In Ireland, as in other European Union countries, a long lockdown was imposed last March to control the spread of the infection. Since the start of the epidemic, in Ireland, a country of nearly 5 million inhabitants, i dead there were 1,852. Last Monday there were 1,031 new confirmed cases of contagion, for a total of more than 50,000 cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
The move to Level 5 restrictions was a difficult decision for Government, and is very hard for people whose lives and livelihoods are most affected, but it was necessary to interrupt uncontrolled exponential growth of the pandemic. 1/5 pic.twitter.com/pGxe6PqFmd
— Professor Philip Nolan (@President_MU) October 19, 2020
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