He once again urged people to cut down their contacts and to reconsider any plans for socialising they have in the coming days.
Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health Dr Tony Holohan has said that social contact in Ireland is at a level that the country will not be able to cope with.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland on Friday, he once again urged people to cut down their contacts and to reconsider any plans for socialising they have in the coming days.
“We think the level of social contact that’s now happening has increased, we have the data that shows over the last week in particular, we have significantly increased to a level we cannot cope with as a country, our social contacts,” Dr Holohan said.
“We have to reduce those social contacts as much as possible. We need to reduce those opportunities for social contact irrespective of the setting but particularly when that setting is indoors, particularly where ventilation is poor.”
He added that there’s a difficulty to maintain social distancing and adherence to regulations when alcohol is involved.
With the hospitality sector saying it cannot cope with yo-yo severe restrictions, @CMOIreland says NPHET makes recommendations based on data and the Government makes decisions. 'We have significantly increased, to a level we cannot cope with as a country, our social contacts'. pic.twitter.com/urueIZnU2D
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) December 18, 2020
“We could find ourselves in early January experiencing levels of infection that begin to place public health at risk to the extent that it begins to impact on our ability to maintain the provision of really essential public services,” he said.
Dr Holohan’s comments come as some restrictions aimed at halting the spread of Covid-19 have eased for the Christmas period.
People are allowed to travel outside their counties from today and can mix with two other households.
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