WIN a full MasterChef Professional Stainless Steel Cookware Set
WIN a full MasterChef Professional Stainless Steel Cookware Set

IMAGE

Social Pictures: Boodles celebrates its new partnership with Punchestown Festival
Social Pictures: Boodles celebrates its new partnership with Punchestown Festival

IMAGE

It may appear tiny from the front, but this Ballsbridge cottage on the market for €750,000 is surprisingly spacious
It may appear tiny from the front, but this Ballsbridge cottage on the market for...

Megan Burns

This picturesque West Cork home with separate basement apartment is on the market for €695,000
This picturesque West Cork home with separate basement apartment is on the market for €695,000

Sarah Finnan

‘The Easter holidays are a fresh kind of hell when you have kids and a job’
‘The Easter holidays are a fresh kind of hell when you have kids and a...

Dominique McMullan

Annutri co-founder and award-winning businesswoman Anita Donoghue on the power of a positive mindset
Annutri co-founder and award-winning businesswoman Anita Donoghue on the power of a positive mindset

IMAGE

This Clontarf home was reconfigured to streamline the layout and maximise its views
This Clontarf home was reconfigured to streamline the layout and maximise its views

Megan Burns

6 classic movies worth watching over Easter
6 classic movies worth watching over Easter

Jennifer McShane

The friend zone: How to navigate finding friends as an adult
The friend zone: How to navigate finding friends as an adult

Sarah Gill

Supper Club: Fearne Cotton’s haddock burrito, punchy salsa and homemade guacamole
Supper Club: Fearne Cotton’s haddock burrito, punchy salsa and homemade guacamole

Meg Walker

Image / Breaking Stories

Covid: Kildare to remain in lockdown, pubs won’t open next week


By Jennifer McShane
27th Aug 2020
Covid: Kildare to remain in lockdown, pubs won’t open next week

Acting chief medical officer (CMO) Dr Ronan Glynn has confirmed that the lockdown in Kildare will remain in place, while pubs will not reopen early on Monday


Amid cases continuing to rise, the National Public Health Emergency (NPHET) met on Thursday to discuss whether pubs should be allowed to reopen on Monday, despite plans for them to remain closed until at least next week.

The news comes after a further 93 cases were announced on Thursday.

NPHET is to reportedly recommend that the government don’t re-open pubs next Monday. In terms of the restrictions that are in place, he explained public health experts, “felt that we really weren’t in a position to reopen the pubs at this point”, and that it “simply isn’t the appropriate time right now to open pubs”.

Kept under review

He added that it would be kept under review, saying that there was no date for the pubs to reopen, with a national effort needed to get Covid cases down.

“We want pubs to reopen, let’s be clear about that. We want pubs to reopen in a safe way. But since the end of June, we have seen a slow and steady deterioration of the profile of this disease in this country,” he said.

Meanwhile, the acting CMO said Covid-19 case numbers in Kildare have not stabilised sufficiently to allow for lockdown restrictions to be eased early.

While cases are stabilising, they are not yet at the point where lockdown can cease.

“In relation to Kildare, we did meet today and unfortunately although the situation seems to be improving and stabilising, it hasn’t improved or stabilised to the extent that we would need,” he said. “It still has the highest 14-day incidence in the country, it still has the highest 7-day incidence in the country. So we will continue to monitor it very closely.”

However, positively, he stressed that measures were working in Kildare and added that as soon as things could be lifted, they would be.

“…On the positive side I suppose what I would say is that, over the past week about just about 10% of cases in Kildare are community transmission, which again highlights that the measures that are there, albeit tough, are having precisely the effect we would want. Which is to limit and prevent onward spread. ”


Read more: Coronavirus Diaries: 32-weeks pregnant during a pandemic

Read more: Unsung Heroes: the forgotten frontline workers we want to recognise

Read more: How are the kids feeling? We hear from three different families across Ireland