Irish Examiner View: No easy choices in the war against Covid-19 

Fears that the nation will stay in some form of lockdown until June

An Taoiseach, Micheal Martin TD speaking to the media outside Meath Primary Care Centre in Dublin last Friday. Picture: Gareth Chaney / Collins Photos Dublin.

The weekend prediction from Taoiseach Micheál Martin that he does not see pubs or restaurants reopening before mid-summer was sobering in more ways than one. He suggested that the emergence of variations of the virus had moved the goalposts and undermined certainty and the best-laid plans.

The announcement, though hardly entirely unexpected, must have added greatly to the stress felt by those dependent on the sector, even more so for those who have invested careers and capital in a bar or restaurant. Their courage and resilience are being tested in unprecedented ways.