Ireland is expected to see some restrictions right up until and beyond Christmas as the grapple with the Delta variant continues.
Over 2,000 cases were again confirmed in the 24 hours leading up to Friday lunchtime with Dr Tony Holohan saying it was a cause for concern.
The Chief Medical Officer is urging Irish people to continue to follow public health guidelines as the country looks to return to normality in the coming months.
Roadmap this month
And a roadmap for the easing of all restrictions is expected before August is out.
There will be a series of high level meetings next week with NPHET and the special Cabinet subcommittee on Covid where the new roadmap for the winter will be worked out.
Then Mr Martin will likely deliver another State of the Nation address after Cabinet sign-off on Tuesday, August 31 where the winter lockdown roadmap will be laid out for the public.
Taoiseach's grim winter warning
The Government is now not looking at any further easing of restrictions until “later in September.”
It was noted at Thursday’s subcommittee meeting that Covid numbers are higher than expected and that this could be attributed to the impact of indoor hospitality and other lockdown easing measures introduced.
It was also noted that “we are naturally social people in Ireland.”
Micheál Martin has warned that Covid rates are “high, very high” as the Government prepares to stall the easing of any more restrictions.
The Taoiseach was explaining why we are slowing down the country’s exit from lockdown.
And he indicated that we could still be living with some restrictions at Christmas time.
Next restrictions to lift
Pubs, restaurants and bars are all still restricted in how they serve customers with vaccine passes and as well as restricted capacity and an 11.30pm curfew.
There is also restrictions on live music with no live events permitted to take place as of yet.
Nightclubs are also all still shut across the country.
There are also general social distancing Covid guidelines on the general public which are yet to be scrapped.
The Taoiseach has signalled that these will be the next restrictions to be examined with the new roadmap as Ireland enters a new phase of the pandemic.
Ireland's vaccine stats
Some 6.5 million vaccines have now been administered here. Just over 84% of adults are fully vaccinated and over 90% are partially jabbed.
