An Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said there could be 2,000 cases of Covid-19 reported daily by New Year's Eve.
Varadkar was speaking at a press briefing which followed An Taoiseach Micheál Martin's
announcement on a new set of Level 5 restrictions which will begin on Christmas Eve. Case numbers are expected to near 1,000 this evening and Varadkar said that there is "exponential growth" and that there could be "2,000 per day by New Year's Eve."
He said that this third wave of Covid-19 is different to the second one due to the fact that more older people are becoming infected. On that note, he said that this current wave is similar to the first wave we saw back in March. Varadkar also predicted that restrictions could be in place throughout January and February.
An Tánaiste advised the safest thing we can do at this moment is to stay at home, saying: "You can't get infected if you stay on your couch." He added some good news by saying the the first batch of vaccines are expected to arrive in Ireland on December 26 and 27. Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said that the current situation is "sobering" and that everyone's New Year's Resolution should be to "have a safe January."
