No large gatherings for six more months, says deputy CMO

We're far from out of the woods yet.

There will no large gatherings in Ireland for at least six more months, the deputy Chief Medical Officer has predicted. Dr Ronan Glynn has said that the country will most likely not be in a position to encourage crowded areas until at least well into the summer months. He added that many restrictions will need to stay in place to ensure that cases continue to drop. "Over the coming months, what we will want everybody to do is when they are out and about and interacting, to do so safely," he said. "I don't see a scenario where we are not asking people to wear face masks, to keep physical distance, to avoid crowds, to avoid poorly ventilated spaces over the next six months." Dr Glynn also said that despite some members of society already being vaccinated, he is unsure as to whether they will be able to re-enter society before others. "They need to be vaccinated, and we need to wait between 7-14 days for them to achieve full protection, and on top of that, we need to really see where we go with the disease more broadly," he said. "Right now, we have to wait for every one in those facilities, that want to be vaccinated, to be vaccinated. "Uptake has been very close to 100 percent in those facilities, but we are not there yet, we have another few weeks to go." Yesterday was the first time since December that no new deaths relating to Covid-19 recorded in Ireland. There were 821 new cases.