Tánaiste says businesses in Ireland will have to close until end of March

DUBLIN: Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that businesses in Ireland will have to close until the end of March due to the rapid spread of COVID-19. The government estimates that about 500,000 people may end up on Pandemic Unemployment Payment under due to the COVID restrictions.

Mr. Varadkar said: “Speaking as the minister for enterprise to people who run a business – if I was running a business now I would be thinking that it’s a probability that I’ll be closed until the end of March.”

“In case I put the heart across people we will review the situation on the 30th of January and make decisions on restrictions then. The situation is deteriorating. It is very bad. It is going to get worse in our hospitals and ICUs,” he added.

“We’re not going to be out of the woods by the end of January and that’s why we’re putting in place the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme and the weekly payment for businesses that are closed at least until the 31st of March in case things go on that long,” Tánaiste said.

The hospitality sector has been closed since Christmas Eve. Mr. Varadkar said that nursing home residents, healthcare staff, very elderly people and those with chronic illness are expected to be vaccinated by the end of March. Until then, pubs and restaurants are being checked to see if they should be closed.

This timeline is based on the availability of Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. Tánaiste also said that if AstraZeneca vaccine becomes available, it will change accordingly.

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said people should “forget about take-away pints” in pubs. The Taoiseach pointed out that this would lead to unnecessary crowding and the spread of COVID-19.