Dublin and the advice now about lockdown
Ireland's lockdown extended until 5 March, Prime Minister Micheal Martin says
Micheal Martin says "we cannot give the virus or its variants any space", adding that restrictions are lowering case numbers.
Ireland's coronavirus lockdown has been extended by several weeks until 5 March, Prime Minister Micheal Martin has said.
The Taoiseach said restrictions were lowering case numbers, adding: "We cannot give the virus or its variants any space."
He said the current Level 5 restrictions were being prolonged "with a view to crushing the numbers of those contracting the disease".
Police monitor a 5km travel limit at a checkpoint in Dublin
Image:
Police monitor a 5km travel limit at a checkpoint in Dublin
He added that "in turn", he hoped the number of people needing hospital treatment and intensive care would decline.
The new measures include mandatory quarantine at a designated facility for people who arrive in Ireland without a negative PCR test taken in the past 72 hours.
"In other cases, people will be required to quarantine at home," Mr Martin said.
He added: "These regulations will apply to anyone who travels into Ireland, from an airport or port on the island, including ports and airports in Northern Ireland."
Visa-free short-term travel from South Africa and South America has been suspended until 5 March.
Police have set up checkpoints outside airports to find out why people are leaving and coming back into the country.
Micheal Martin says restrictions are lowering case numbers
The number of people currently being treated in hospital in Ireland for COVID-19 is more than double that seen in the first wave last year.
In addition, a large number of hospital staff are absent because of the virus, while hundreds of nurses have been redeployed to intensive care units.
Anne O'Connor, the Health Service Executive's chief operations officer, said there was "huge demand on our hospital system".
"We have still got a high level of absenteeism among all of our staff, and we are having to redeploy staff from across the hospitals into ICU," she told RTE.
"At the minute we have anything between 300 and 350 nurses redeployed into ICU to be able to cope with that very high number of 217 [patients]."
Micheal Martin says "we cannot give the virus or its variants any space", adding that restrictions are lowering case numbers.
Ireland's coronavirus lockdown has been extended by several weeks until 5 March, Prime Minister Micheal Martin has said.
The Taoiseach said restrictions were lowering case numbers, adding: "We cannot give the virus or its variants any space."
He said the current Level 5 restrictions were being prolonged "with a view to crushing the numbers of those contracting the disease".
Police monitor a 5km travel limit at a checkpoint in Dublin
Image:
Police monitor a 5km travel limit at a checkpoint in Dublin
He added that "in turn", he hoped the number of people needing hospital treatment and intensive care would decline.
The new measures include mandatory quarantine at a designated facility for people who arrive in Ireland without a negative PCR test taken in the past 72 hours.
"In other cases, people will be required to quarantine at home," Mr Martin said.
He added: "These regulations will apply to anyone who travels into Ireland, from an airport or port on the island, including ports and airports in Northern Ireland."
Visa-free short-term travel from South Africa and South America has been suspended until 5 March.
Police have set up checkpoints outside airports to find out why people are leaving and coming back into the country.
Micheal Martin says restrictions are lowering case numbers
The number of people currently being treated in hospital in Ireland for COVID-19 is more than double that seen in the first wave last year.
In addition, a large number of hospital staff are absent because of the virus, while hundreds of nurses have been redeployed to intensive care units.
Anne O'Connor, the Health Service Executive's chief operations officer, said there was "huge demand on our hospital system".
"We have still got a high level of absenteeism among all of our staff, and we are having to redeploy staff from across the hospitals into ICU," she told RTE.
"At the minute we have anything between 300 and 350 nurses redeployed into ICU to be able to cope with that very high number of 217 [patients]."
22-25, F