Ireland not expected to ease restrictions tomorrow, according to Chief Medical Officer

Ireland’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan has said he will not be recommending that the government ease restrictions due to Covid-19 on the government’s May 1 deadline

With the deadline for the current Covid-19 restrictions in Ireland in place until May 1, there were some who were hopeful that tomorrow might mark an easing of those restrictions. However, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said last night that he is not yet in a position to recommend an easing of these restrictions.

It was announced that there have been 31 more deaths due to the coronavirus, bringing Ireland’s total number of people who have died to 1,190. It was also revealed that a second person in the 15-24 age group had died.

There have also been 376 new cases, bringing the total number of cases in Ireland to over 20,000. Dr Holohan said that while the country was making great progress, the number of cases was such that it was too soon to lift restrictions. He also mentioned that there are still over 100 people in intensive care units, so the strain on the health system is still a real danger.

Dr Holohan said that with these levels of the disease, these are not “the kind of circumstances” that would allow him to recommend an easing of Covid-19 restrictions., and so his advice to the Government would be not to lift restrictions.

He did note that 12,222 people have recovered from the virus, which is 64% of the total, while 1,164 cases, which amounts to 6%, have been discharged from hospital, giving a recovery rate of 70%.

Featured image: Daan Stevens via Unsplash

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