No further covid restrictions expected before Christmas, minister says

It's unlikely further restrictions will be put in place in the coming weeks.

Government Chief Whip Jack Chambers says that he does not expect any additional Covid restrictions between now and Christmas.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1's Today with Claire Byrne, he said he does not see any further restrictions on top of those already in place. He also said school closures are not on the cards and the additional funding being made available to schools is proof of that.

"I don't believe [there will be more restrictions]. We've seen a stabilisation despite our case numbers being quite high," he said.

"We all need to be additionally wary of our extra contacts as we go through December."

[caption id="attachment_542896" align="alignnone" width="600"] Image Credit: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie[/caption] He added that the HSE will be putting an accelerated booster campaign in place this week and that it is necessary to provide certainty to people as to when will receive their booster shot.

“We will be using every resource” he said.

"Changes are on the way. The HSE will set out an update to their plan. They will set out how to operationalise the vaccination of 5-11 year-olds, which I know parents want to know when this will start.

"They will also set out a date when over 40s will start and thirdly, how we scale up and add additional capacity to the vaccination programme."

Mr. Chambers' comments come as concerns have been raised around international travel over the Christmas period. Last week, Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan told a meeting that the incidence of Covid-19 transmission in the community remains high, and the future of the new variant is unknown. The Irish Times reported that there is also a fear that the situation in Ireland could become as bad as Britain, with cases of Omicron doubling each day. On Sunday, the Department of Health confirmed 4,667 new cases of Covid, with four additional cases of the Omicron variant, bringing the total number of cases  of the new variant to 10.