© Julien BehalTánaiste Leo Varadkar: ‘It will probably be towards the end of February or early March before a critical mass of the population is vaccinated and I think we need to operate on the basis that these restrictions will be in place until then.’
"It will probably be towards the end of February or early March before a critical mass of the population is vaccinated and I think we need to operate on the basis that these restrictions will be in place until then," Mr Varadkar told a press conference after the Taoiseach's announcement earlier in the day.
Comment: Everything they say is subject to change, without warning and on a whim: Ruthless UK government places a third of its population under EVEN STRICTER lockdown for Christmas
Mr Varadkar said that we were seeing "exponential growth" in the numbers of people infected with the virus which would, "on its current trajectory" see case numbers at 1,000 a day before Christmas and "perhaps 2,000 a day before New Year's Eve".
"We don't know if the new variant is circulating in Ireland but we're operating on the basis that it is," Mr Varadkar said, adding that it would make it very difficult to get the R number - the rate at which the virus spreads per person infected - below one.
Comment: Even if the 'new variant' was in Ireland, there's NO evidence that it should be a cause for concern, quite the contrary: There are thousands of Covid strains, so this new scare is NOT a big deal, but politicians just love their new authoritarianism
Visits from two households will be allowed until St Stephen's Day, but that will then be reduced to one household until December 31st, and home visits will be banned completely in the new year.
Comment: The rules don't make sense because they're founded upon government lies.
Mr Varadkar said that while retail was being exempted from the closures, if numbers continued to climb they could face closures in the future. The Government has also decided to widen and extend a variety of Covid-19 supports for business, including a double payment of Covid Restrictions Support Scheme payment - paid to businesses forced to shut - for the next two weeks, with weekly payments resuming after that. Hotels will also be included in the payment even if they are open for a small number of guests.
Comment: These 'payments' come from the public purse and will be paid for with even more crushing austerity measures.
The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme will also be continued, and there will be a commercial rates holiday in the first quarter of the year. Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said the briefings from public health officials were "very sobering".
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that the third wave of the virus was different to the second wave seen in October and November, and the Government was concerned following advice from public health officials that the hospital system could be put under pressure.
The second wave saw limited hospital admissions and low mortality, but Mr Martin said that infections among older people meant that this wave could be very different.
Comment: Here we have an admission that hospitals have not been overwhelmed and that deaths caused by coronavirus are little different to a bad flu season. We have no reason to believe this 'third wave' will be any different.
Asked if this would be the last time Level 5 restrictions would be imposed, Mr Martin said: "I can't say whether this is the last or not."
The healing power of stay-at-home.