Coronavirus in Ireland: Ministers ‘should advise people not to return from abroad this Christmas’ (2024)

The government should advise people not to return to Ireland from abroad this Christmas but the country should move to Level 2 restrictions for the holiday period, a public health expert has said.

Anthony Staines, a professor of health systems in Dublin City University, said: “The experience of other countries tells us that people will come in with the virus and they will spread it.”

He said that this was how the virus originally spread in Ireland and there was “no reason” why it would not happen again if people came home for Christmas.

The Department of Health last night confirmed an additional 378 cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number of cases in Ireland to 67,903. One further death was also confirmed, bringing the total number of Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland to 1,979.

As of 2pm yesterday, 249 patients were in hospital with Covid-19, 31 of whom were in ICU.

Tony Holohan, chief medical officer at the Department of Health, said: “The average daily five-day case count is rising and is now over 400 per day. This is a worrying development which has persisted for the last few days.”

Despite the increase in the five-day average, there were 887 fewer cases of Covid-19 confirmed between Monday and Sunday last week compared with the previous week.

Professor Staines described the introduction of the EU traffic light system in Ireland as “completely useless” and said that it would not help to control the spread of Covid-19 if people travelled home for Christmas.

Under the system people arriving from green regions, where the incidence of the virus is very low, can enter the country without restricting their movements or undergoing testing. Passengers arriving from an orange region who test negative for Covid-19 up to three days before travel also do not need to restrict their movements upon arrival.

But Professor Staines said that people in these categories could still be carrying the virus and spread it among the community if they were not restricting their movements.

All people who arrive from red regions, where the incidence is 50 cases per 100,000 or higher, must restrict their movement for 14 days but Professor Staines said that because it was difficult to police, these people they could still transmit the virus.

However Professor Staines said Ireland should move to Level 2 restrictions in time for Christmas. Under Level 2 people can have some visitors over to their home, small indoor events with patrons can take place, and pubs and bars are open with protective measures.

“I think being realistic people will do stuff over the Christmas week so I think we need to say to people, this is how you do it safely and this is how you do it sensibly.”

Dr Holohan said yesterday that small numbers of people congregating for social purposes were ignoring “important public health messages” and putting collective progress at risk.

He said: “We are also seeing a number of outbreaks across the country. These include outbreaks in association with funerals. We understand that this is a difficult time for families, but it is really important that we do everything we can to avoid the circ*mstances which promote transmission of the virus.

“As we head into a new working week, we need to stay at home other than for essential reasons and for personal exercise within 5km. Anyone who can work from home, should work from home.”

It comes as 2,569 students will commence the postponed 2020 Leaving Cert and Leaving Cert Applied examinations today. The exams will run until Friday December 11 with one exam being held each weekday evening and two exams per day on both Saturday and Sunday.

In a statement the State Examinations Commission said: “All aspects of these examinations will be run in accordance with public health advice which includes social distancing and the wearing of appropriate face coverings by superintendents and candidates.

“Candidates have previously been advised that they must not attend for the examinations if they have tested positive for Covid-19; if they are experiencing any symptoms or are required to self-isolate or restrict their movements, and must otherwise comply with public health advice.”

If a student has recently been notified that they are a close contact of a confirmed case and is asked to restrict their movements then the SEC will seek to make arrangements for this student to sit their examinations at an alternative location “where appropriate controlled arrangements can be made to enable the sitting of the examinations” without compromising public health.

The SEC said that students in this position must be able to either drive themselves to their exams or be driven by someone in their own household.

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