Gardaí handed powers to close pubs and restaurants breaching Covid-19 restrictions

Gardai have received legal powers to close restaurants and bars which do not meet coronavirus restrictions. File image

Gardaí have received legal powers to close restaurants and bars which do not meet coronavirus restrictions.

President Micheal D Higgins signed into law the Criminal Justice Enforcement Powers Covid-19 Bill.

Acting chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn has issued another warning about infection rates in Dublin.

He said the virus was growing by 4% due to spread associated with households.

He said: “This provides a window of opportunity for us to bring the current trajectory of disease under control.

“To do so we need to act now to break the chains of transmission.”

Over the last two weeks, there have been 1,055 cases of Covid-19 in Dublin, giving a 14-day incidence rate of 78 per 100,000 people and a reproductive number of 1.4.