Nationwide ban on home visits and move to Level 4 for Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal is announced

‘We know that a lot if not most Covid transmission is happening in private homes,’ Tánaiste says

The Government has announced a nationwide ban on visits to homes or gardens in almost all circumstances, except for providing care to children or elderly and vulnerable people.

It has also announced that Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal will move to Level 4 of the Government’s Living with Covid plan from midnight on Thursday until November 10th.

Under Level 4, people should not have any visitors to their homes, the maximum number of attendees at a wedding is six, non-essential retail will close, and all non-essential workers are to work from home, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said as he announced the move. He said construction and manufacturing will remain under the right conditions.

Under the new restrictions for the Level 3 counties, people will be allowed to meet in groups of up to six people from up to two households in outdoor settings away from home and garden while maintaining social distancing - including for exercise and dining. The existing exemption which allows for Club Championship games to be played behind closed doors has been removed and sports teams will be told they cannot train unless social distancing can be observed.

Mr Martin said the new Level 3 status has been in place for a week and the Government is studying infection patterns as Level 3 can have a “significant impact” on the spread of the disease.

“There are concerns regarding the full application of Level 3,” he said, including people going into the workplace, slippage in retail and personal services, and people going to each others homes.

Mr Martin said “I know how difficult this is for everyone and I understand the deep frustration people feel”.

“We are on a journey with this virus and we have come to a difficult point in that journey,” Mr Martin said. He said the numbers of infections are “just too high”.

He said data from Northern Ireland is “hugely worrying” and that discussions with Stormont would continue in the coming days.

He said figures in the Republic were also “very worrying” with 190 cases per 100,000 nationally, in Monaghan 360 Donegal 353 and Cavan 571. The implications for local hospitals and public health “is obvious and very serious”.

“We are living in difficult times and things may indeed get worse before they get better,” he said

“It will pass. We will make it through this pandemic,” he said.