“We can save Christmas” – NPHET urges people to “do the right thing” over the next three weeks

A senior NPHET official has urged Irish people to “do the right thing” in order to avoid a lockdown around the Christmas season.

As the number of Covid-19 cases continues to rise, Professor Philip Nolan, Chairman of the NPHET Modelling Advisory Group, told media yesterday that “we can still save Christmas, if we do the right thing over the next three weeks.”

Ireland is currently under level 3 restrictions until October 27 and Professor Nolan added that it is “our job now” to ensure that Covid-19 transmission gets lower.

In his first public appearance since returning to his role, Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan echoed Professor Nolan’s sentiments about Christmas by saying that we will get through the season “very well if we go into Christmas at 50 cases a day”.

Dr Holohan also said that Christmas is at the forefront of NPHET’s thoughts, saying “it’s in our minds, we haven’t had an expressed conversation about Christmas, but each of us is conscious, we know what it’s like here. Adding a note of caution, he said “Christmas will be a challenging time, what we have to try and ensure is we get the disease as low as possible before that.”

Under level 3 restrictions, people are asked not to leave their county except for essential reasons and home visits should be limited to a maximum of six people from one other household.

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