Guide to Christmas Level 5 lockdown restrictions

The Government has announced that the country will move to Level 5 restrictions from Christmas Eve until January 12, following a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases.

According to a spokesperson, the Government has considered a number of factors in arriving at this decision, including NPHET concerns at the rapid increase in Covid-19 case numbers over recent days, the nature of social interaction likely to take place over the Christmas period involving mixing between younger and older people and the risk that this could lead to a wave of infection with a higher risk age profile.

It is understood that the number of new confirmed Covid-19 cases in the Republic which will be announced in the daily update this evening will be more than 900.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Government was acting quickly and aggressively and proceeding on the assumption that the new variant of Covid-19 is already in Ireland.

“We’ve lost many friends and neighbours to this disease, and many others didn’t get the goodbye they deserved because of the restrictions that the disease required.

“As a country and as a community of people working together, we have managed to sustain one of the lowest rates of Covid mortality in all of Europe. And we want to keep it that way.

“The hope is real. There is light at the end of this tunnel. Vaccines are on the way.

“The one thing which remains absolutely consistent about this virus is that it is potentially deadly and if it is left to spread unchecked it will reach the most vulnerable and they will pay a heavy price,” the Taoiseach said. “Unfortunately in the last week we have seen extraordinary growth in the spread of the virus.

“This is the same pattern that we have seen in the UK and across Europe. Just this morning figures suggest that we may now be seeing a daily growth rate of approximately 10%. This is very obviously a source of serious concern. It is simply not sustainable.

“While we do not yet have firm evidence that the new more virulent strain of the Covid virus is in our country, the rate of growth over the last week tells me that the safest and most responsible thing to do is to proceed on the assumption that it is already here,” the Taoiseach said.

Level 5 will be introduced with the following adjustments:

• non-essential retail may remain open. The retail sector will be requested to defer January sales events
• gyms, leisure centres and swimming pools may remain open for individual training only
• outdoor golf and tennis are permitted
• hotels may only open for essential non-social and non-tourist purposes except for guests who already have a booking and are due to check in up to and including 26 December
• you must remain within your county (as opposed to within 5km of your home) apart from travel for work, education or other essential purposes
• non-contact training in pods of up to 15 may take place outdoors
• no matches/events should take place except for professional and elite sports and horse racing and greyhound racing behind closed doors

The specific arrangements for the Christmas period are:

From 3pm on 24 December:

restaurants and pubs operating as restaurants will close

hotels may provide food and bar services to guests only after that point

Social/Family Gatherings

(For those who are part of a support bubble, the bubble counts as one household).

Up to and including 26 December: visits from up to 2 other households will be permitted

Up to and including 31 December: visits from one other household will be permitted

From 1 January: no visitors are permitted in private homes/gardens (except for essential family reasons such as providing care to children, elderly or vulnerable people, or as part of a support bubble)

Travel

travel outside your county will continue to be permitted up to and including 26 December. Those away from their place of residence after that period will be permitted to return to their place of residence

Religious services

Christmas religious services may take place, but will move online after 25 December when places of worship may remain open for private prayer

Weddings

Up to and including 2 January 2020: weddings can have up to 25 guests

From 3 January: weddings can have up to 6 guests

Travel from UK

The government has also agreed that the current restrictions on travel from Britain to Ireland should remain in place until at least 31 December, but kept under constant review in the light of unfolding information and circumstances.

The general Level 5 restrictions are as follows: