mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past a shop in
Belfast on November 27, 2020, as stricter restrictions come in to
force to help stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. Northern
Ireland shops, pubs and restaurants will shut for two weeks in
efforts to curb the coronavirus, the British province announced, on
the eve of Friday’s partial reopening of businesses.PAUL FAITH /
AFP
Ireland ended a second partial coronavirus lockdown on
Tuesday, with non-essential shops, hairdressers, and gyms unlocking
their doors after six weeks of tough restrictions.
Museums, galleries, libraries, cinemas, and places of worship
also reopened as the nation lifted virus curbs in place since
October 22.
On Friday, pubs and restaurants serving food will follow suit,
although drinking-only establishments will remain shuttered.
Ahead of Christmas, the government is also urging people to wear
masks outdoors on “busy streets”, starting on Tuesday.
Infection rates are bound to rise in the run-up to the festive
season, foreign minister Simon Coveney told state broadcaster RTE
on Monday.
“The challenge is to keep that increase as low as possible,” he
said.
According to the latest official figures, there have been 2,053
deaths from coronavirus in Ireland, a nation of five million.
The daily death toll peaked at 77 in mid-April and in recent
weeks has frequently remained in the single digits.
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But the Republic was the first nation in Europe to return to a
partial lockdown mirroring the first in March as the rate of
“second-wave” infections surged.
According to the latest data from the European Centre for
Disease Prevention and Control, Ireland now has the second-lowest
14-day incidence rate of the virus in the EU behind Iceland.
“The efforts and the sacrifices that each of us has made is
working. Lives have been saved,” prime minister Micheal Martin said
in a national address Friday.
“In easing restrictions we are going as far as we believe it is
possible to achieve the best balance of health, economic, and
social considerations, but no further.”
Under the relaxed restrictions in effect from Tuesday, household
visits remain off-limits and people have been told not to travel
outside their county of residence.
However, last week the government announced plans to ease
pandemic curbs over Christmas and New Year.
From December 18 to January 6, up to three households will be
permitted to mingle and inter-county travel limits will be
lifted.
“This cannot and will not be the kind of Christmas we are used
to, but it will be a very special time when we will all be able to
enjoy some respite from the hardships of 2020,” Martin said.
-AFP
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