Minister for Health appeals for public to stay home this weekend

The Health Minister is urging people to stay home this weekend, saying the efforts of Irish people have already saved 3,500 lives.

In the Dáil, Mr Harris said the public health modelling shows that the rate of reproduction of the virus has dropped from 2.4 per infected person when the first wave of restrictions were announced, but that it is now "stable" between 0.5 and 0.8.

Minister Harris said that if Ireland had not taken the steps it had, along with the adherence to those steps by the public, a further 3,500 people would have died: "Sadly, 1,190 lives have been lost to this virus. But thanks to the incredible efforts by the Irish people that we — that you — have saved over 3,500 lives. That is 3,500 reasons to stay at home, 3,500 reasons to stay the course and 3,500 reasons to keep with us on this journey."

"We have made significant progress but we cannot let that progress mask the current reality. Up to 40 people a day are being hospitalised, between three and four are being admitted to our ICUs. We must finish the job. If we want to continue to save lives, we must stay united, we must stick together."

"I understand the fatigue that people are feeling at this stage, I really do, it’s human nature. We’re all human and denying ourselves of many of the things that are most intrinsic to our very humanity.”

Mr Harris said that he does "not accept the premise" that restrictions cannot be lifted at midnight on Monday because of a lack of testing or contact tracing. He said the HSE has a "roadmap" in place on how to grow capacity to 100,000 tests per week by the third week in May. However, he said that it is not just testing which makes the lifting of restrictions impossible, pointing to ICU capacity and behaviour of the virus.

On the wearing of masks, Mr Harris said cabinet will consider issuing guidance on this tomorrow, but that he does not envisage making them mandatory.