Covid-19 update: When will weddings be allowed again?

Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan answers the question engaged couples have been asking since lockdown: ‘When will weddings resume?’ 

During a briefing yesterday, Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan addressed the question many engaged couples have been wondering: 

When will weddings be allowed again?

While some brides and grooms have adapted to the current social isolation climate by throwing a virtual wedding, others want to know if they will have to make the same decision. And if not, how long will they have to postpone their nuptials?

When asked about weddings specifically, Holohan was quite vague, stating that the decision could be different, depending on the wedding party size and the individual couple themselves.

Uncertainty

“The nature of weddings involves interaction, close interaction, social engagement with people, often in a context, let’s be honest, where you know people have alcohol and so on,” he explained.

“They are exactly the kinds of conditions which give us among the greatest concerns we have about social interactions that ease the spread of this infection.”

While he understands the difficulty these couples are facing, the public’s health must be the Ireland’s number one priority.

“While I can completely understand what that means for brides and grooms,” Holohan continued, “we’re not in a position to give assurance that we will be able to see at a point in time weddings of a certain type and social activities of that scale, or any social activity of a similar scale, being reintroduced.

“But as soon as we think we’re able to give that kind of clarity we will provide it.”

What we know

His comments came after a further 23 Covid-19 fatalities and 211 new cases were confirmed — bringing Ireland’s death toll to 1,339 and case total to 21,983.

According to the current, phase-by-phase plan in place, small weddings may be permitted in phase 4 on July 20, while big weddings have yet to be given an allowance date.

There has been no clarification yet on what constitutes a big or small wedding exactly, but hopefully, as cases continue to fall, we can hear more specifics on the matter later down the line.

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