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Ireland is \u201cnowhere near where we need to be at present\u201d to consider easing Level 5 restrictions, the T\u00e1naiste has said.<\/p>\nIreland is \u201cnowhere near where we need to be at present\u201d to consider easing Level 5 restrictions, the T\u00e1naiste has said.<\/p>\n
Leo Varadkar told the D\u00e1il that the numbers surrounding Covid-19 were too high to consider lifting restrictions in the short-term, but that did not mean schools could not reopen in February.<\/p>\n
His comments came as the number of people with the disease in intensive care hit a new high on Thursday, with 214 patients.<\/p>\n
The Government is expected to extend Level 5 restrictions into late February, while plans for schools to reopen on February 1st have been thrown into doubt.<\/p>\n
However, Mr Varadkar said while restrictions would be in place for some time to come, no formal decisions will be made until a Cabinet meeting next Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo decision has yet been made on restrictions, a decision will be made by Cabinet next week,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s fair to say that we\u2019re nowhere near where we need to be at present to ease Level 5 restrictions, but of course that doesn\u2019t mean that schools can\u2019t open in February.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is of course a possibility of opening more construction sites because they\u2019re not supposed to be closed in normal Level 5.\u201d<\/p>\n
The T\u00e1naiste also noted that the number of patients acquiring Covid-19 in Irish hospitals was of \u201creal concern\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems that as many of as a third of patients in hospital got Covid in hospital. They didn\u2019t come in Covid positive, they picked up Covid while in the hospital,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of them may not be sick as result, they may be sick for a different reason. But it still is a matter of real concern that so many people are acquiring Covid in our hospitals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking during Leaders\u2019 Questions, Mr Varadkar said that while mass-testing sometimes takes place where there is an outbreak of coronavirus in hospital wards, this can often distract from patient care.<\/p>\n
Separately on Thursday, infectious disease consultant at St James’ Hospital in Dublin, Cliona N\u00ed Cheallaigh, said an extended lockdown is necessary to prevent the health service from becoming overwhelmed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t see any way that they wouldn\u2019t extend it until the end of February, I mean we saw in December and January the consequences of freeing up when levels in the community are still quite high, and we\u2019re certainly not at the stage where we could afford to do that yet,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Dr N\u00ed Cheallaigh said there needed to be increased restrictions on international travel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no point in getting (Covid-19) levels within the country down extremely low if we\u2019re then not restricting people coming in,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very difficult because people can be asymptomatic, people can be PCR tested like we are seeing with the Australian Open, people can be PCR tested prior to travel and be incubating the disease and only turn positive afterwards.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s a very difficult issue that we\u2019re going to have to grapple with.\u201d<\/p>\n