Government hints at good news and bad news ahead of April 5th lockdown decision

Leo Varadkar has issued on update on the Government’s plans for easing the current Level 5 restrictions in April.

Current restrictions are scheduled to remain in place until April 5 (Easter Monday) and with Covid-19 case numbers on the decline, the Government is hoping to be able to put and end to some aspects of lockdown next month. Speaking on RTÉ News at One today, An Tánaiste indicated that he is confident that the 5km limit will be lifted while the Government is also looking at reopening the construction sector.

Varadkar pointed to a more cautious approach this time around, saying that “We are going to go more slowly than maybe we would have if we hadn’t had the experience we did in January.” He also delivered unwelcome news for the retail industry by saying that while click and collect services may return, it is unlikely that non-essential retail will reopen.

Meanwhile, An Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that any decision made ahead of April 5 will set out a path for the following six weeks.

Taoiseach says country cannot let its guard down quickly because of the Covid variant. He said decisions around any (modest) easing of restrictions would be made in the week leading into April 5th and the path for the following SIX weeks would also be set out at time

— Mícheál Lehane (@MichealLehane) March 10, 2021

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