The Minister for Health has said the government plans to press ahead with the next phase of easing Covid-19 restrictions.
Minister Stephen Donnelly added that he envisages all sectors will have reopened by Christmas.
RTE News is reporting the National Public Health Emergency Team will meet tomorrow to consider what advice it will give to the government ahead of the publication of a roadmap next week on the next phase of reopening.
Minister Donnelly said while the plan is to proceed with the next phase, “what kind of timing impacts there might be depends on the NPHET advice and let’s see what they have to say.”
Asked if all sectors will be reopened by Christmas, he said “obviously specific dates are something that we would be looking to NPHET for and we’ll be discussing that at Cabinet, but yes, certainly the view would be that we would be open this calendar year.”
Minister Donnelly said the Government wants to “provide real certainty for people.”
“Most of society and most of the economy is open but we’re very aware that there are still parts that aren’t and that have suffered hugely and what we want to do is help them open as quickly as possible and make sure that when they do open, that they can stay open, and give them clarity as to when that can happen so they can plan accordingly.”
The minister also said certain basic public measures such as the wearing of masks in higher risk environments may be kept in place “for some time.”
Meanwhile, Health Service Executive CEO Paul Reid has said that the gap between adults who are partially vaccinated and fully vaccinated “continues to close”.
In a post on Twitter, he said that almost 86% of adults here are now fully vaccinated, while 91% of adults have received a first dose.
