There’s a risk the country could face even more restrictive measures if Covid-19 becomes widespread in communities, a government official has said.
Liz Canavan, Assistant Secretary General at the Department of the Taoiseach said measures introduced last night shouldn’t be seen as punishment for any particular group.
She said if those measures were not introduced last night there could be “a risk of having to introduce even more restrictive measures.”
Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday Ms Canavan said: “If we allow the continued rise to go unchecked and become widespread within our communities we risk seeing increased danger to the most vulnerable in the community.
“That is why the government has decided to act now, to act before that happens.”
Ms Canavan said many groups are upset but the central message is to reduce the numbers of people gathering and mixing.
She said: “Of course one choice is to close everything down.
“That would bring a halt, we know that.
“This is a balancing act. It’s about reducing, managing and mitigating risk.
“It’s not about eliminating all risk. Until we have a vaccine we can’t eliminate the risk.”
Ms Canavan said the 14 day cumulative cases per 100,000 of the population is now at 26.
And said it was “disappointing” to be discussing restrictions again but these measures were put in place to reopen schools.
She said: “These measures are not being introduced to punish any particular group or to target any particular sector but to balance the need to remain as open as we can in society, in business with ensuring this increase in cases does not spread in an uncontrolled way in the community.
“The measures are not about penalising groups who have done great work in organising themselves safely, that they are aimed at reducing disorganised gatherings.
“The measures are aimed at activities that lead to impromptu and entirely normally gatherings that are not organised and where distancing can not be practiced.”
Ms Canavan said this is why the government has decided to put a ban on spectators at sporting events.
She said: “While these organisations have done great work in organising these events it’s the disorganised gatherings that can unwittingly provide a focal point for the measures that will reduce.”
She said these temporary restrictions are to ensure there isn’t a stop “to sporting events altogether.”
Meanwhile, around 370,000 employees are currently being supported by the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS).
And €17 million was paid out today while the overall payments made so far amount to €2.5 billion.
The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme will replace the TWSS on September 1.
The Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) has seen a drop off of a further 30,100 people paid last week.
Around 232,400 are still receiving the payment and the overall value of the weekly payment is in the region of €72.2 million.
