Tue 20 October 2020:
Ireland has imposed some of Europe’s toughest coronavirus restrictions as it heads back into lockdown.
Prime Minister Micheal Martin laid out the new level-5 measures on Monday after Ireland’s National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) recorded 1,031 new COVID-19 cases on Monday.
In a televised address on Monday, Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin announced the closure of non-essential retail, limiting restaurants and pubs to take away service and telling people not to travel more than five kilometres (three miles) from their home.
The travel restrictions, which will come into force from midnight on Wednesday, are among some of the toughest in Europe, and Martin said they were necessary as the “evidence of a potentially grave situation arising in the weeks ahead is now too strong”.
In Wales, First Minister Mark Drakeford said he was backing a short, sharp “firebreak” to slow the spread of COVID-19, and announced that all non-essential retail, leisure, hospitality and tourism businesses will close for two weeks beginning at 6pm (17:00 GMT) on Friday – a lockdown similar in scope to the United Kingdom-wide measures imposed in March.
