Easing out of lockdown: County travel, construction, golf, tennis and sports for kids
Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, and Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the Nphet Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group. Picture: Colin Keegan
A proposal to extend the 5km limit from the middle of April is set to be approved by the Government today.
Despite "grim" warnings from the HSE and National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet), ministers will hear proposals to permit people to travel within counties.
Last night, Garda representative bodies cautioned against such a move saying it would make the policing of the pandemic more difficult.
Notwithstanding Nphet concerns that the reproduction rate of the virus is "too high", the easing of travel is in line with advice received by Dr Ronan Glynn, the deputy chief medical officer.
Today's Cabinet meeting has been pushed back to 1pm when final decisions will be taken on easing the lockdown.
According to sources, ministers will consider a plan to allow more outdoor activities for people from the second half of April onwards.
The return of children's sports training, senior GAA county training along with tennis and golf are included in that.
A return to construction activity for building homes is also expected in the middle of the month, the Irish Examiner understands.
The delayed introduction of these measures is to facilitate the return of all primary and secondary school students to the classroom on April 12. Several ministers said other matters have been sacrificed to ensure children can return.
Last night, the Minister for Transport and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said the Government would follow a step-by-step approach in the weeks ahead.
Public health officials have warned against any premature easing of restrictions saying the rate of transmission of Covid-19 remains “too high”.
Sources at the briefings said the presentation from the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) before ministers met, was “grim” and “sobering” with a clear level of concern that the R-rate of reproduction of the virus is still too high.
However, in the first signs of divergence from Nphet since Christmas, one unhappy minister hit back telling the : “We are in the most severe lockdown in Europe.”
Sources said that Nphet, which had earlier yesterday had its own lengthy meeting, laid out a precarious national picture and urged that whatever decisions are made be "cautious". The presentation was described by one source as "fairly grim" with a number of ministers saying that "caution would be the watchword" for the coming weeks.
Following the briefing from Nphet and the HSE, ministers broke and gathered again after 9pm last night to begin their deliberations.
It is understood that ministers are, however, cognisant of the need to open up the 5km restriction and allow people to interact outdoors.
Concerns were raised, though, at a growing number of people meeting indoors for social reasons.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is understood to have impressed upon the subcommittee that caution in the coming weeks will put Ireland in a good position to ramp up vaccine rollout, particularly with the Johnson & Johnson jab, which only requires one dose and is due to come on stream by the end of April.
Under the plan, re-openings of various sectors will occur week to week for the month of April and will be under "constant review", with decisions dependent on the ongoing situation with the virus.
Sources said a major priority for some ministers will be the potential resumption of "click and collect" services for many non-essential shops which have been closed since the new year.
A senior minister said doing so would be "a game-changer" for small businesses across the country.
However, sources said that the Government's options are "limited" and any discussions about full-scale reopening or the return of hospitality will be held in late April or May.
Meanwhile, another Covid-19 death, as well as a further 539 new cases of the virus, were confirmed last night.
The State’s vaccine rollout has started picking up speed despite glitches in supply and is finally heading towards the 1m doses mark.
Up to Friday 786,569 doses were given, with HSE chief executive Paul Reid confident weekend clinics will have brought this close to 800,000 by Sunday night.
Figures are released with a two-day lag to allow time for all vaccines to be entered into the system.
The target for the first three months of the year had been 1.1m doses but repeated delivery reductions mainly from AstraZeneca have affected this. Moderna also cut its deliveries although to a lesser degree.
A HSE spokeswoman said: “Currently about 95% of available vaccines are administered within seven days of arrival in Ireland.”
AstraZeneca is expected to deliver 100,000 doses this week, according to Paul Reid. Further deliveries are also expected from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.
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