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Taoiseach Micheál Martin has defended the Government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic this winter as he confirmed that rules on close contacts will be relaxed from Friday.
Mr Martin said the Cabinet decision that close contacts of confirmed cases no longer need to restrict their movements for five days - once they have had a booster shot - reflected progress in the fight against the Omicron variant of the virus.
He said it has been made possible by a “very strong” vaccination programme saying more than 10 million doses have now been administered.
He urged those who have not received jabs or a booster to avail of them as it will protect from severe illness.
“We have to remain vigilant. We have to keep on top of this virus. But the decision on close contacts represents a balance in terms of the pressures on supply chains in particular and on the health service and other essential services but also the progress we’re making in relation to vaccination.”
Mr Martin said the 8pm closing time for pubs, restaurants and cinemas will be reviewed later this month.
Speaking during a post-Cabinet press conference Mr Martin rejected a suggestion that the high level of Covid-19 cases represents a failure of the Government’s plan for the winter.
He said: “I don’t accept that at all. It’s the opposite that is the case.”
Mr Martin said Omicron is a highly transmissible variant that is impacting countries around the globe and that people had responded “instinctively” to restrictions and measures put in place and changed behaviour.
“The key metrics in terms of mortality in terms of hospitalisation and admission to ICUs are such that we are managing this wave effectively.”
Mr Martin also said: “There is no comparison in terms of the levels of activity that are ongoing in the economy and across society, as compared to 12 months ago, when you had a far less transmissible variant.
“We’re not at Level Five [restrictions] notwithstanding the very high level of cases.”
He said 300,000 PCR tests are being carried out per week compared to 100,000-a-week at the same time last year.
Mr Martin also indicated there will be no change in policy in relation to the provision of free antigen tests.
Currently they are available to people under 40 who have Covid-19 symptoms as well as close contacts of cases in schools.
Opposition politicians have called for free antigen tests to be distributed more widely.
“Basically we’ve given out about 6.4 million free antigen tests to date... which is a very significant number.
“I think a targeting approach in terms of close contacts, in terms of symptomatic and also in terms of crèches and schools and so on, is working effectively. And that will continue to be the policy.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Cabinet agreed to relax the rules on close contacts of Covid-19 cases, clearing the way for thousands of people to return to workplaces.
Ministers agreed to proposals from Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly that close contacts of confirmed cases no longer need to restrict their movements for five days, once they have had a booster shot.
It is understood that the measures will come into force at midnight on Thursday, and should enable thousands of people who were staying at home to return to work.
The changes come after the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) recommended acceptance of advice from the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC), which recommended a relaxation of the rule for countries whose health systems were under severe stress from staff shortages.
On his way into Cabinet on Wednesday morning, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said: “The peak hasn’t yet been reached, the public health authorities anticipate that we will reach the peak within the next week or two.
“One cannot be definitive or certain about that, we have to be very vigilant about Covid and about Omicron because over a thousand people are in hospital and one doesn’t go into hospital unless you’re sick.
“So we do understand that this is a very dangerous virus.”
He said the “best weapon we have” is to get vaccinated and to follow the public health guidelines.
Earlier, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan welcomed the advice from chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan that restriction rules for boosted close contacts be relaxed.
Mr Ryan told Newstalk Breakfast that the move would be of benefit to employers and to their staff and it had come about as a result of recommendations from the ECDC.
The system in the last few weeks had been “confusing”, he said, and this move would provide clarity.
However, Mr Ryan warned that the virus could not be “let rip”. He said the number of patients with Covid in ICUs was “holding steady”, and Ireland has the second-lowest death rate from Covid in Europe, “because the vaccine works”. The metric of measurement had to be the number of hospitalisations not the number of cases, he added.
When asked how employers would know if staff had been fully vaccinated and had received their booster if they could not ask employees, Mr Ryan said that it was a matter of trust between employer and employee.
People had been vaccinated for their own good and out of a sense of pride that they were protecting others, he said.
Restrictions with regard to the hospitality sector and the current closing time of 8pm would remain in place until they were reviewed later in the month, said Mr Ryan. He said he was confident that such restrictions could be lifted at that time as this appeared to be “a shorter wave”.
Concern
Earlier, professor of immunology at Dublin City University Christine Loscher expressed concern about a “blanket” easing of close contact requirements.
“I’m surprised there is a blanket change. It’s a little bit all or nothing,” Prof Loscher told Newstalk Breakfast.
Prof Loscher said she understood the need to change the rules with regard to the workplace, especially for essential services, but said she was concerned because the Omicron variant was much more transmissible and she would not like to see the change have an impact on case numbers.
Antigen tests would be crucial “if this is the way to go”, she said, and a test would need to be done every day.
Prof Loscher said there was not yet information on how many close contacts had turned into cases, what percentage and in what settings.
Every single public health decision to date had been made on the basis of scientific evidence, she said. “That does not seem to have happened here.”
The Department of Health said 19,290 new cases of the virus were confirmed on Tuesday, though this is widely understood to be a significant underestimate of the true numbers, as many people with symptoms who have had positive antigen tests are not being counted in the Department’s official statistics.
Mr Donnelly on Wednesday said the 10 millionth dose of Covid-19 vaccine was being administered in the State, praising the number as a “huge milestone” in the vaccination programme.
According to the latest available figures, there are 1,055 patients in the country’s hospitals with Covid-19, with 92 of those in ICU.