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National lockdown not advised by NPHET 'as things stand'

National lockdown not advised by NPHET 'as things stand'

A second national lockdown has not been advised by NPHET according to the acting chief medical officer, Dr Ronan Glynn.

As the daily number of confirmed Covid-19 remain at much higher levels than previously recorded, the possibility of such restrictions being reimposed had been discussed.

However, after yesterday's NPHET meeting, Dr Glynn confirmed that such measures are not necessary "as things stand".

"The cases, whilst not escalating rapidly, are continuing to escalate and if we continue along that road over a prolonged period of time, we will see more hospitalisations.

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"We will see more people in critical care and it will have knock-on effects for many parts of our society and our economy. We are not contemplating a national lockdown as things currently stand," said Dr Glynn.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánasite Leo Varadkar had warned that further nationwide Covid-19 restrictions may be needed if Ireland cannot suppress the virus.

Despite the concerning increase in cases, schools began welcoming students back to classes this week.

Discussed in yesterday's NPHET meeting was the possibility of reopening pubs that do not serve food, which have been closed since March.

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Dr Glynn confirmed on Thursday evening that pubs would not be allowed to reopen on Monday due to the increased number of cases.

He also said that Ireland's R rate, the average number of people that the virus is passed to be each confirmed case, is currently between 1 and 1.2.

The possibility of lifting lockdown restrictions in Kildare, which had a regional restrictions extended due to outbreaks in the county, was also discussed, with NPHET deciding the measures should not yet be lifted.

An additional 93 cases of the virus were confirmed on Thursday, with no additional deaths.

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