Christmas festivities may be a tad limited this year as the Government tries to plan for the lifting of the Level 5 lockdown in December. Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that a return to Level 3 restrictions was the target for Christmas. However, some Cabinet members are hoping that the country may be able to drop to Level 2.
It’s expected that restaurants will reopen but there may still be issues with pubs that do not serve food opening. The Government is trying to find ways to modify any restrictions imposed to ensure that another surge doesn’t engulf the country after Christmas. One of the modifications the Government is considering asking the public to limit their social contacts to close family.
Some Fianna Fáil members have called on the Taoiseach to relax restrictions further; all the way back to Level 2 to allow people to travel over the Christmas period. The Government is considering the cost to the economy and to people’s wellbeing of going in and out of lockdowns on a regular basis. One way of easing restrictions yet limiting the spread of coronavirus at the same time would be to strictly limit personal contacts over the Christmas period.
So, after spending 6 weeks locked in with them, we could be looking at spending another month looking into our families’ eyes. This time with added tinsel. And there we were thinking December was going to be one long party…
