Taoiseach Micheal Martin has confirmed that Ireland will exit Level 5 of Covid-19 restrictions from next week and has also unveiled Christmas plans for the country.
As of Tuesday December 1, we will move to Level 3 with some modifications as there will be a large scale reopening of the economy which has been mostly shut down for the past six weeks.
From Tuesday, all retail shops, gyms, hotels, hairdressers, places of worship, libraries and cultural institutions will be permitted to reopen with restrictive measures in place.
The 5km travel limit will be lifted to allow travel within your county instead.
All outdoor solo sports (golf, tennis etc) will be permitted to resume but contact sport will only be allowed to resume non-contact training in pods of 15 – matches will still not be allowed.
Training had been allowed for children over the last six weeks but that will now be extended to adults.
From Friday December 4, restaurants and pubs that serve food can reopen for indoor operations as well as outdoor with additional restrictions.
The ‘two hour rule’ will still apply to meals eating out as parties will have to give the table back after 1hour and 45minutes, if there is less than 2m between tables. While tables will remain capped at six.
But there is bad news for ‘wet’ pubs as they can operate for takeaway or delivery only.
From December 18 until January 6, travel will be permitted throughout the country and county limits will be removed.
Household gatherings are permitted for up to two other households but people are asking to exercise caution and use common sense in relation to gatherings over Christmas.
In new information on masks, people will be asked to wear them outdoors on busy streets, in places of work and in places of worship.
Taoiseach Martin said: “This cannot and will not be the kind of Christmas we are used to … but will be one where we can enjoy some respite from the hardships of 2020 and especially from the last six seeks.”
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