“September to me and to public health is too early.”
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said September is “too early” to end Covid-19 public health measures due to people returning to education.
The Minister was speaking in the Seanad on Friday in relation to the extension of emergency Covid-19 powers until November.
He said: “There are certainly members of the Dáil who simply don’t believe we should have public health measures in place. I couldn’t disagree more strongly with that view.
“But I would appeal to colleagues in the Seanad that if you fundamentally agree with the premise that we need to continue with public health measures from Monday onwards, which really is the question we’re being asked here, to support the bill, even though you may disagree with November.
“September to me and to public health is too early, partly because what we’re going to see in September is a lot of people going back to school, a lot of people going back to work and a lot of people going back to third-level education.
“We think there’ll be a lot of social interaction in August, we think there’ll be a lot of people going back to education and back to work in September and that the view is then for sort of September and October, you want to retain the ability to bring in… proportionate measures.”
He added: “So, if the disease is very low, and hopefully it will be, there may be a need to do some very targeted, very proportionate measures and end it by November – by the end of October essentially.”
The Seanad passed legislation extending the emergency Covid-19 powers until the start of November, with the bill to now go to the President to be signed into law.
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