Dr Tony Holohan said it is simply “too dangerous” for international travel, wreaking havoc for family members who are trying to plan Christmas travel.
This has thrown cold water on the hopes of family members hoping to hit the skies and travel home to meet loved ones anytime soon.
There are now fears that the Chief Medical Officer could issue an edict advising against people coming home from abroad for Christmas in the coming weeks.
Dr Holohan said that he and his advisers have not discussed Christmas specifically yet, but meantime he has firmly ruled out any Halloween celebrations this weekend.
And he said that any international travel is simply out of bounds in current conditions.
The Chief Medical Officer was speaking as he announced he had another five sad deaths from Covid to report.
But there was some good news in the new case numbers being 720, down more than 200 on Monday night’s figure of 939.
There have been 79 Covid deaths reported in October so far, with 32 of those in nursing homes
The highest number of cases have again been recorded in Dublin with 228 new cases reported.
There were 130 new cases in Cork, 47 in Galway, 31 in Meath, 27 in Limerick and the remaining 257 cases are spread across another 20 counties.
Of the cases notified today, 348 are men and 371 are women.
65% are under 45 years of age and the median age is 32 years old.
The total number of infections is now 58,767 since the pandemic began.
Dr Holohan is against any non-essential international travel while the Covid numbers remain as high as they are now.
The CMO was asked about Christmas travel and he said: “We haven’t given any specific consideration to that….but there has been consideration by Government on common eurozone travel.
“Our advice is one around the risks of non-essential travel outside of the country - and the risk is simply too high.”
The Chief Medical Officer also condemned rogue retailers opening and offering some limited essential wares - like facemasks.
He said they are operating under false pretences to gain an “unfair advantage.”
Dr Holohan said: “They are not keeping with the spirit of solidarity and I am disappointed.”
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