The more transmissible Omicron Covid-19 variant has become the dominant strain of the virus in Ireland, causing concerns to grow around the implementation of further restrictions.
New restrictions announced by the government last Friday take effect at 8pm Monday, with Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan saying the measures will substantially cut the volume of social contacts.
Dr Holohan said it is now up to people to follow “not just the letter but the spirit” of the guidelines, saying it is “down to people individually" to curtail their social interactions this Christmas.
Speaking on RTE’s Morning Ireland, he said NPHET will continue to monitor the situation over Christmas and will be available to give further recommendations to the government.
Dr Holohan warned that Ireland may see a major surge in Covid cases in the coming weeks, just as European countries such as Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands are currently experiencing.
He asked that people continue to avail of vaccines and boosters and warned of misinformation being spread.
He said: “One thing I should say, if I may, in relation to vaccines because I am concerned that a view is out there that the vaccines don't work as effectively as they used to, and yes their ability to limit transmission does begin to wane after a period of time, but we think that the effect of the vaccine in protecting you from your infection becoming a severe infection is maintained through vaccination and boosting. That's why the booster is really important, and that will be maintained in the face of this new variant, as well as delta. That's really, really important.
“We’ll have to monitor just how well it holds up, but there is an unfortunate message that has gotten hold. A lot of misinformation is being spread in relation to this, that the vaccines in terms of protecting people against severe infection haven't helped, and that's not true.
“If we had these case numbers right now 12 months ago when we didn't have vaccination, we would have hundreds of people being admitted to hospital in all likelihood every day, as opposed to the numbers that we do have and many many more deaths. Whereas, over the course of the last number of months, we’ve had one of the lowest hospitalisation rates and mortality rates in Europe because we’ve done so well in this country in terms of both vaccination and booster.”
Asked if he had discussed further restrictions with the Taoiseach, Dr Holohan said: "I know there was a report in one of the newspapers yesterday to say there was a firm plan for us to meet on 30 December to announce a lockdown at that point and that we'd already indicated as such to him. That's simply untrue."
The news comes after Tanaiste Leo Varadkar warned the public that a record number of Covid cases would be seen in the coming days due to the Omicron variant.
He said it is not possible to stop transmission of the virus completely but said it could be limited with the help of the new measures.
Speaking to RTE’s Morning Ireland, the Tanaiste said: “I think it's always going to be a combination of government actions and also actions we take as individuals and families," he said when asked on RTE's Morning Ireland about a backup plan.
"The most important thing I think anyone can do is get their vaccine booster, a third dose. We will probably hit two million by the new year, once again showing that the Irish people are willing to get vaccinated.
"The government, through the HSE, has a world-beating vaccine programme, so that's probably the most significant thing we can do because the vaccines do protect you from severe illness and death when it comes to Omicron, and Delta which hasn't gone away.
"That's really important, so is wearing masks, reducing social contacts, all those things make a difference, and we believe those combined will be enough to weather the Omicron wave.
"It's not possible to stop it. It's here already, it's dominant, and we will see record case numbers in the coming days."
He added: "There will be very high case numbers, and hopefully, we won't be too afraid to see that because this is a much more transmissible strain of the virus, and we will see very high case numbers.”
