Covid-19: Republic of Ireland moves to Level Five restrictions

The Republic of Ireland will move to Level Five restrictions in a bid to stem rising infection rates of Covid, the Taoiseach (Irish PM) has confirmed.

Micheál Martin said the more severe restrictions would remain in place from midnight for at least a month.

The country had returned to stricter coronavirus restrictions on Christmas Eve with the closure of restaurants, hairdressers and gastro pubs.

Schools will remain closed until 11 January instead of 6 January.

The decision does not apply to childcare facilities or créches.

Mr Martin said the Reproduction number was currently estimated at between 1.6 and 1.8 and the situation was "extremely serious"

Ireland has been operating on a five-level plan for dealing with Covid.

The Level Five restrictions include a ban on all household visits, the closure of non-essential retail and a 5km limit on travel.

Other restrictions include the closure of sports including golf and tennis, with the exception of professional or elite sports like Gaelic games and horse racing behind closed doors.

Mr Martin said the new coronavirus variant, which was confirmed as present in the country on 24 December, was "spreading at a rate that has surpassed the most pessimistic models available to us".

He said the "threat of the health system being overwhelmed and the risk of increased sickness and death among our vulnerable and older populations is obvious".

In a televised address on Wednesday, he said: "In the week before Christmas, we were seeing about 5% of tests coming back as Covid-positive.

"Yesterday, 18% of those tested were infected with the disease," he added.

Over the last seven days, more than 8,000 cases have been confirmed in the country - a 61% increase on the previous week.

There have been a further 13 Covid-19-related deaths in the Republic of Ireland in the past 24 hours. It brings the death toll to 2,226.

There have been 1,718 additional positive cases of the virus there within the last day.

Mr Martin warned that latest surge was different to the second wave with "rising incidence of the disease across all age groups, especially those aged 19-24 and a very worrying increase among those aged 65 and older."

Weddings are limited to six guests from 2 January and 10 people will be allowed to attend a funeral.

Ireland's national broadcaster RTÉ said that construction will be allowed to continue to operate under the additional restrictions.

An eviction moratorium will also be reintroduced from midnight for the duration of the latest restrictions.

On Tuesday, a 79-year-old woman became the first person in the country to receive a Covid-19 vaccine.

Grandmother of 10, Annie Lynch, from Dublin, received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at St James's Hospital on Tuesday.

The first batch of Pfzier vaccines arrived in the Republic of Ireland on 26 December.