Government to meet Nphet on risks of new variant and 'circuit-breaker' for children

Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, and Transport Minister Eamon Ryan will meet chief medical officer Tony Holohan today to discuss how the new variant changes the public health landscape in Ireland. 

Government leaders will meet with the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) today as concern grows about the Omicron variant of Covid-19 and the Cabinet gets set to discuss a "circuit-breaker for children".

Nphet officials met across the weekend to discuss the emerging variant of the virus, as countries across the world tighten public health restrictions and, in some cases, close their borders.