Here’s what life in Dublin could look like under the government’s new ‘Living with Covid’ plan

The government is expected to officially unveil their Living with Covid roadmap later today

As cases rise to worrying heights in the capital, Covid restrictions could see an increase in Dublin from today as the government unveils its Living with Covid plan.

The roadmap will lay out the plan for reopening the country over the coming year, and will focus on basing restrictions on levels of the virus in different parts of the country.

Here’s everything we know so far.

The five stages

The plan will detail five stages of Covid-19 restrictions, with one being the least severe and five being the most. When and how they will be introduced depends on the rate of Covid within an area.

Key factors in determining where an area falls on the scale include the 14-day incidence rate of Covid cases, and hospital and ICU admissions.

Stage One is the least restrictive stage, but there will still be restrictions in place and social-distancing rules will still apply. Stage Five would be a similar lockdown like what we experienced in March, but the government views this as a worse-case scenario and doesn’t envisage us moving past Stage Four.

Today, it is expected that the government will announce that the country is currently in Stage Two, but Dublin may be upgraded to Stage Three.

Wet pubs

It emerged last night that the reopening date for wet pubs of 21st September will not apply in Dublin due to rising cases here. Wet pubs are still due to reopen in the rest if the country, but will be delayed in the capital until new cases are under control.

How will Dublin fare?

Yesterday, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said the “worrying” increase in coronavirus infections in Dublin would require additional restrictions and a “different response” than in the rest of the country.

Breaking Dublin up into eight key areas, the 14-day incidence of Covid-19 has risen above 100 in two constituencies of the city.

Dublin North West, which includes Cabra, Phisborough, Finglas, Castleknock, part of Glasnevin, Blanchardstown, Mulhuddart and Smithfield, and Dublin South East, which includes Baggot Street, Ranelagh, Donnybrook, Dundrum, part of Churchtown, Ballinteer, Leopardstown and Sandyford, have the highest incidence rates of Covid-19 in the city, at 100.6 per 100,000 and 101.9 per 100,000 respectively.

It is unclear if the new Five Stage plan will be split across regions within a county as of yet.

If Dublin is confirmed as moving into Stage Three today, we would see a number of additional restrictions compared to the rest of the country, including:

• The number of visitors allowed to a home would be reduced from six people from three households to six people from one household.
• It’s likely that people will be asked to restrict their movement/travel within Dublin, but it’s unlikely that a county-wide travel ban will be imposed.

The ultimate goal of the Five Stage plan is to ensure schools and creches across the country stay open. The government would only view to close them again if we found ourselves in a Stage Five situation.

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