‘Cases will break all records’ – pubs and restaurants to close at 8pm as part of new restrictions until January 30
Measures to come in midnight Sunday until January 30
100 person limit for weddings after 8pm
Nphet had proposed closing hospitality at 5pm
Restrictions should come in no later than Sunday at midnight – Nphet says
Significant opposition from Government backbenches
Taoiseach to make announcement this evening
Omicron making up 35pc of Covid-19 cases
Further 3,628 cases of Covid-19 confirmed today, with 105 patients in ICU
Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan. Photo: Colin Keegan
Fianna Fáil senator Lisa Chambers. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins
Hugh O'Connell, Ciara O'Loughlin and Gabija Gataveckaite
December 17 2021 12:03 PM
THE Government has agreed to reject Nphet's advice for a new 5pm curfew on hospitality and instead implement an 8pm closing time until January 30.
The 8pm curfew will also apply to hotel bars and restaurants as well as other indoor events, including entertainment, cultural, community and sporting events.
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In his announcement tonight, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the spread of Omicron will be unlike anything we’ve seen before.
He said omicron is “ripping through the population in other countries” and that “there is no silver bullet”.
"None of this is easy we are all exhausted with Covid,” he said.
“The twists and turns and the disappointments take a heavy toll on everyone
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“We cannot wish it away and there is no silver bullet to fix it
How very dare he!
“We talk about living with Covid and many think that means going back to life before Covid, it doesn’t.
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“The news this evening will be deeply disappointing to many, it is not the news I wanted to bring you, the truth is we are in a much better place than this time next year and we will be in a much better place in 2022,” he added.
Mr Martin said the country is in a much better place with the virus than this time last year and that “we need to get to the other side of this Omicron wave safely”.
"Right now as I speak to you the omicron variant is exploding throughout Europe,” he said.
“The level of concern is the highest that I have seen, we are still in the early days of this new wave.
“We are going to see a massive rise in infections, over a third of all new cases are a result of omicron,” he added.
Other proposals agreed at Cabinet include a 100-person limit on attendees at weddings after 8pm.
