The government has received reports of house parties being organised for St Patrick’s Day, despite the fact that it could lead to fines or prosecutions.
“We are hearing reports of house parties, street parties and other parties being arranged. We want to remind you that no organised activity is permitted under the current level of restrictions,” Assistant General Secretary for the Department of the Taoiseach, Liz Canavan told reporters at the Government Buildings earlier today.
“Anyone found to be in breach may face a fine or prosecution,
“It won’t be possible to gather with friends and there’ll be no parades but that doesn’t mean there will be no spectacle to enjoy,” adding that virtual events will be available from the March 12 – 17 on SPF TV as part of a virtual St Patrick’s Day festival.
Last night’s figures from the Department of Health showed that as of March 6th, 523,069 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland, with HSE CEO Paul Reid commenting that serial testing in nursing homes has yielded a positivity rate of just 0.2% today.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed that Ireland will receive 46,500 more of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines after talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, earlier this morning.
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“The fact that we are making such steady progress is a testament to the efforts you are making. However, we must make sure that we don’t experience a fourth surge of the virus before the benefits of the vaccine can be experienced,” Canavan added.
She advised people to continue exercising within the 5KM from their homes, and advised against increases to household visits.
Latest research showed that “the largest increase [in close contacts] is at outdoor locations which was up 1.1% to 6.2%.”
“It is worth remembering that while outdoors is safer than indoors, it is not risk free. Try to stick to the two metre rule and wear a mask if you can’t do that or it’s crowded,” said Canavan.