Nphet backs further loosening of restrictions with government under pressure to reopen live entertainment
The Government is under increasing pressure to reopen live events after Dr Tony Holohan said outdoor events like Electric Picnic would not raise concerns if the attendees were fully vaccinated. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie
Health officials have backed the Government's plan to further loosen restrictions on the economy and society despite a further 18 deaths in the space of a week and confirmation of 2,000 more cases.
After a meeting of the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet), members agreed to leave the ultimate decision on the roadmap for reopening society to the Government. Their overall message is that as the numbers of people who are fully vaccinated rises, more options become available.
The return of 1.5m young people to schools and colleges remains a top priority, while indoor sports, live music and a return to the office is to happen quicker than was previously expected, with nightclubs and other late-night venues to return in October.
The full plan is expected to be announced after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
The Government has come under increasing pressure to reopen outdoor live entertainment for those who are fully vaccinated. However, a senior government source said it will not be bringing in new laws for outdoor events.
"All the legislation was for indoor dining, it was never envisioned for outdoor and we're trying to move to a place of less regulations and less legislation so I can't see the government creating new legislation for outdoor activities," said the source.
Laois County Council has reiterated that it will not be allowing this year's Electric Picnic Festival to go ahead. That is despite chief medical officer Tony Holohan saying it would not pose a great public health risk for the fully vaccinated to attend such events.
The council said in spite of the comments from Nphet, nothing has changed as regards advice from the HSE, or the Government’s public health measures on hosting outdoor events. It also said there would not be enough time for a new application for an event licence.
Meanwhile, an additional 18 Covid-19 related deaths have been reported in the past week, according to figures from Nphet bringing the total since the pandemic began to 5,092.
Yesterday, a further 2,051 confirmed cases of the virus were reported. There were 323 patients in hospital, of whom 56 were in ICU.
Dr Holohan expressed concern at the continued, high daily case count.
“While we have increasing levels of vaccination across the population, we continue to have significant concerns over the Delta variant and the increase in incidence of disease across a range of factors,” he said. “Unfortunately, this variant is still circulating widely.”
Dr Holohan said that over 70% of cases are in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people, with a high incidence of the virus in teenagers and adults ranging in age from 16 to 29.
