Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan has warned the public to take precautions from today if planning to spend Christmas with loved ones who are vulnerable, as the Department of Health confirmed a further 4,235 cases of Covid-19.
In a series of tweets, Dr Holohan said if anyone tests positive for coronavirus from Wednesday, their isolation period will include Christmas Day. “This can be avoided by ensuring you take every step possible to protect yourself,” he added.
He reminded the public to “avoid crowds, limit your contacts, work from home unless absolutely necessary, risk-assess your environments and make safe choices over the coming days and weeks”.
The Omicron variant now accounts for 13 per cent of Covid cases in the Republic, he said, adding that it “spreads very easily” and community transmission has been identified.
Dr Holohan added: “Taking the opportunity to get a booster dose of vaccination is as vital today as getting the first dose was earlier this year. You will begin to receive the benefit of your booster protection within seven days of receiving your third dose.”
There were 470 patients being treated with coronavirus in hospital on Wednesday, of whom 105 were in intensive care (ICU), the Department said.
Dr Holohan’s comments came as expectation is growing in Government that new restrictions are likely to be recommended by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) at its meeting on Thursday.
However, Ministers remain opposed to any suggestion that schools or hospitality businesses should close.
The public health advisers are meeting to consider the threat from the fast-spreading Omicron variant and will send any recommendations for new restrictions to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly afterwards.
Earlier today, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said he expected Nphet to recommend more restrictions on social mixing, close contacts and international travel.
Mr Varadkar said the Government will consider the recommendations and make a decision quickly as speculation caused anxiety and he understood people wanted clarity and a few days’ notice rather than “worrying over the weekend”.
If new restrictions are recommended by Nphet on Thursday, an urgent Cabinet meeting could be held on Friday, Mr Varadkar indicated, although Taoiseach Micheál Martin arrived in Brussels for a three-day European Union summit beginning on Wednesday evening.
"I would expect more recommendations around the management of close contacts, recommendations to decrease the amount of social mixing and recommendations around international travel," Mr Varadkar told Newstalk's Pat Kenny show.
More testing
Speaking as he arrived in Brussels for the European Council meeting, Mr Martin said testing before and after travel and prior to social activities will be key to tackling an expected rise in infections due to the Omicron variant.
“The emphasis actually will be on more and more testing,” the Taoiseach said. “We’re going to be re-emphasising the importance of tests before you travel, tests after your travel, tests before you engage in social activity. All designed to protect your loved ones, protect yourself, and also you can participate that bit better then in whatever activity you are pursuing.”
The challenge of the Omicron variant and how to boost vaccination rates in lagging member states is high on the agenda at the Council meeting. Ireland and Portugal were early movers in the EU in reintroducing testing requirements before travel for vaccinated people, which had been broadly waived for those fully vaccinated travelling within the union.
Italy this week announced it would introduce PCR testing requirements for all arrivals and five days of quarantine for non-vaccinated people, leading EU officials to warn that member states should co-ordinate travel rules and avoid “unilateral actions”.
The Taoiseach said it was so far unclear whether Omicron would cause more serious health problems than previous variants, but that the clear advice was that the number of infections would rise.
“We were winning the battle against Delta. The hospitals are down again today. And the likelihood is that they’ll go down for the next week, and ICUs. But now Omicron has arrived on the scene and the clear public health advice is that it will spread more rapidly,” Mr Martin said.
“The data is not there yet in respect of how severe its impact will be on health. The view is that the fact that we’re so well vaccinated will give us protection as a country, and that will give our people protection, but we have to be cautious about that,” he added.
“We always have to evaluate each phase of the pandemic, learn lessons from that and apply those lessons to the next phase. And this phase now is the ‘Omicron phase’.”
The Taoiseach said a Cabinet meeting had not been organised for Friday – something that would be expected if Nphet were to recommend new restrictions – but did not rule it out.
‘Change in tack’
Earlier, Mr Varadkar said although efforts to suppress the current high level of cases from the dominant Delta variant were “going well”, the Omicron strain was likely to cause an additional wave of infections in the next couple of weeks. This would require a “change in tack”, he said.
The leaders of the three Coalition parties and senior Nphet officials met on Tuesday night, at which the officials presented their assessment of the situation.
Political sources said the leaders were anxious to ensure they were not surprised by Nphet recommendations on further restrictions, as has happened in recent weeks.
Government figures have publicly and privately made clear they believe it is not necessary to close schools for an extended Christmas break, despite calls to do so, including from Solidarity/People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy this morning.
Mr Varadkar also said the pandemic was likely to “go on for several years” but added this did not mean that restrictions would be required for that period of time.
The Tánaiste also said the details of how children would be vaccinated were being worked on. He said it would not be a requirement for children to be vaccinated in order to attend school.
“We will be encouraging parents to get their children vaccinated – it won’t be coercive,” he said.
Whether or not any fresh restrictions are introduced will depend on a meeting of Nphet on Thursday, as the Government is likely to be reluctant to deviate from the guidance of chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan and others.
The Government has so far been hesitant to implement any major new restrictions to halt the spread of Covid-19 this Christmas and has instead focused on the rollout of booster vaccines to protest the population from Omicron.
Accelerating booster rollout
The number of GPs and pharmacists involved in administering booster vaccines is to be increased across the State as part of a “national effort” to prioritise vaccinations.
Currently, 75 per cent of GPs are vaccinating the public. The Government now wants to get all GPs involved, as well as to double the number of pharmacies providing the booster jabs.
Dr Mary Favier, Covid lead for the Irish College of General Practitioners, said the message from GPs to those awaiting a booster dose was: "Don't call us, we'll call you."
Speaking on RTÉ Radio's Morning Ireland, Dr Favier said GPs are hoping to double the number of booster vaccines they administer from the current level of 80,000 per week.
The booster vaccines will be administered on an appointment basis with supplies being ordered on Wednesday, so it was likely to be next week before the campaign would begin in earnest.
Dr Favier also said the 15-minute post-vaccine wait time was “a significant challenge” for GPs and “a big limiting step”. If removed, as had been done in the UK, it would allow GPs to vaccinate more patients, she said.
Many vaccination centres will also have extended opening hours, from 8am to 8pm.
