New restrictions are likely to be announced later today by the Taoiseach after NPHET issued a list of recommendations to cope with the new Omicron variant.
The major concern around the potential of this new strain to devastate our health system has resulted in a slew of new rules proposed by NPHET.
The Cabinet Sub-Committee will meet this afternoon to review the suggestions put forth.
It is understood that Tony Holohan recommended that all hospitality venues close by 5 pm from Monday, in a letter to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly.
NPHET is also asking that sporting, theatre and cultural gatherings do not take place after 5 pm and that capacity should be cut to 50% for outdoor events - marking a drop to 5,000 people.
This particular suggestion has caused anxiety among many couples with nuptials planned over the Christmas period.
One bride-to-be wrote on Twitter: “Please refrain from any additional restrictions before 27th December. This is my 3rd rescheduled wedding and I would really like it to happen thanks in advance.”
Another wrote: “Wedding Photographer here - are there any restrictions on weddings? Eg dancing, masks, and social distancing. Wedding this Saturday plus NYE, concerned for couples.”
The new recommendations strongly discourage large numbers of people at both indoor and outdoor events, with a potential “tsunami of Omicron cases” as a result.
Although confirmation on the effects for wedding celebrations won’t come until this evening’s announcement, the advice is clearly not in favour of events taking place.
It will now be up to the government to discuss and develop an action plan for moving forward.
This comes as the new variant now accounts for 27% of all new Covid-19 infections, up from just 1% of new cases last week.
European health chiefs also warned on Thursday that Omicron is likely to become the dominant variant by early January.
