An end to almost all Covid health restrictions is to be considered by the Government.
It follows a decision yesterday by Government to back the recommendation from the National Public Health Emergency Team’s to end mandatory mask wearing.
A decision on the remaining restrictions will take place next week.
A final decision on the lifting of mask-wearing will be made today and should come into effect from 28 February.
It would mean that mask wearing in schools, retail settings and on public transport would be voluntary from next Monday, but they would still be required in health care settings.
There would still likely be advice that people should continue to wear masks on public transport, but it would not be underpinned by law.
Physical distancing measures in schools, such as pods or ‘bubbles’, would also end next week and testing and tracing would be scaled back.
NPHET itself will be wound-up too, but the Office of the Chief Medical Officer will continue to monitor the “epidemiological profile of the disease”.
