DUBLIN: Ireland’s third COVID-19 lockdown will be prolonged by a month, Prime Minister Micheal Martin stated on Tuesday, blaming a virus variant first identified in the UK for the decision.
Present lockdown measures – in place since late December – were due to expire on Mar 5, however will now be prolonged till Apr 5.
Non-essential businesses, restaurants, pubs, and gyms are to remain shut, the government “stay home” advice has been renewed and a 5km travel limit will proceed, Martin stated in a televised address.
“We need to use the month of March to really drive down case numbers and get them as low as possible,” he stated.
“We just want to stay focused and get through these next few months safely together.”
The Irish prime minister emphasized that a coronavirus variant first identified within the UK – and in Ireland on Dec 25 – had become a “major problem”, and was now responsible for “up to 90 percent” of new infections.
“It’s equivalent to a new virus almost,” he stated.
“The truth is that it has changed the dynamic significantly, and we need to be very cautious as we take the next steps ahead.”
Irish schools, which didn’t reopen after the December holidays and are still largely closed, will begin a phased return on Monday, however, Martin stated.
He nonetheless declined to outline a detailed plan to end the nationwide lockdown.
“We must monitor the situation very carefully and keep it under constant review,” he stated.
Martin stated over 350,000 vaccines have now been administered in Ireland – a nation of 4.9 million people that has suffered 4,181 virus fatalities so far.
The prime minister pledged more than 1 million vaccine doses would be administered per month in April, May, and June – with more than 80 percent of eligible adults receiving at least an initial dose by the start of July.
The republic managed two previous waves of COVID-19 infection with relatively low case and demise figures, but the virus surged after restrictions were relaxed ahead of Christmas in late December.
In early January, the nation had the highest per capita infection charge in the world, according to Oxford University data.
Around 45 percent of all deaths from the virus have occurred since the beginning of 2021.
