# New regional restrictions in Midlands



## odyssey06 (7 Aug 2020)

Restrictions affecting *Kildare, Laois and Offaly* will come into effect from midnight following an increase of Covid-19 cases in the three counties over the past two weeks. 


Those resident in either of the three counties are advised not to travel outside of their county in a bid to prevent transmission of the virus. People are asked to only undertake essential travel at this time, such as to attend medical appointments, for vital family reasons, for farming purposes or to travel to and from work that cannot be done from home. 
People travelling into these counties are asked to do so only for essential reasons. 
Pubs and restaurants are to operate as takeaway only. Childcare facilities will remain open as will retail outlets.  
People are advised not to use public transport unless necessary in the three counties, and are asked not to share private vehicles with people from outside of their household. 
The restrictions will come into effect from midnight and last for two weeks. 
Outdoor gatherings are to be set at a maximum of 15 people. Indoors gatherings are to be set at a maximum of six people. 
Cinemas, theatres, gyms, bingo halls and swimming pools are also to close. People who are already staying in hotels in the three counties are allowed to remain for the duration of their booking, but hotels will otherwise be limited to non-social and non-tourism operations.
Funerals are to be limited to a maximum of 6 people for any indoor part and 25 for any outdoor part. 
Visiting is to be stopped in hospitals, prisons and long-term residential care facilities, except in exceptional circumstances.









						New Covid-19 restrictions for Kildare, Laois and Offaly to kick in from midnight
					

The Government announced the measures on the back of NPHET advice following a spike in cases in recent days.




					www.thejournal.ie


----------



## peemac (7 Aug 2020)

So Celbridge residents must not go to Lucan, but they can go to Castledermot 

I think it was a little hasty especially as they had located the clusters and contained them. 

It risks losing public support.


----------



## losttheplot (7 Aug 2020)

peemac said:


> So Celbridge residents must not go to Lucan, but they can go to Castledermot
> 
> I think it was a little hasty especially as they had located the clusters and contained them.
> 
> It risks losing public support.


A 5 or 10 km restriction for the affected counties may have been better. Still difficult to implement.


----------



## llgon (8 Aug 2020)

peemac said:


> I think it was a little hasty especially as they had located the clusters and contained them.



With 66 new cases announced on the day in the three counties I think it would have been unwise to assume that the clusters and virus have been 'contained'.


----------



## Leper (8 Aug 2020)

peemac said:


> So Celbridge residents must not go to Lucan, but they can go to Castledermot
> 
> I think it was a little hasty especially as they had located the clusters and contained them.
> 
> It risks losing public support.



1. I don't think too many people in Celbridge will be complaining that they must not go to Lucan. But, the line had to be drawn somewhere and no matter where the line is it will cause disturbance for some. 
2. The decision wasn't hasty. Something had to be done as the infection rate is rising and our "R" figure at 1.80 is unacceptable. If things were left for later the situation would be much worse than it is. I reckon other counties or part of counties will suffer the same fate shortly.
3. Certainly not losing support from me or anybody I know.
4. Most people have bought into the restrictions, but there'll always be the few who don't give a whit about anybody else.


----------



## Rosjohn (8 Aug 2020)

Are the Regulations to make the restrictions legally enforceable only coming in from midnight Sunday?
Johnstownbridge people will now have to shop in Edenderry instead of Enfield 1km away.


----------



## llgon (8 Aug 2020)

Rosjohn said:


> Are the Regulations to make the restrictions legally enforceable only coming in from midnight Sunday?



No, the statutory regulations came into effect from midnight last night.





__





						Statutory instruments relating to the COVID-19 pandemic
					






					www.gov.ie


----------



## Rosjohn (8 Aug 2020)

Thanks Ilgon.


----------



## llgon (8 Aug 2020)

I was surprised to read that the regulations apply until August 23rd given that Micheal Martin said they would be 'for a period of two weeks'


----------



## joe sod (9 Aug 2020)

It looks like the compete lockdown of the country in March and the total shuttering of businesses which is still continuing has not worked. The recent upsurge in the Midlands is due to very specific circumstances and the location of asylum centres in midlands towns due to their proximity to Dublin. This might not be politically correct but surely specific restrictions regarding asylum centres and any close community institutions where people are living in close confines needs to be implemented. The massive cost of the lockdown surely must be given serious consideration now. It seemed to be justified when we got the transmission down to low levels, now that is looking dubious


----------



## odyssey06 (9 Aug 2020)

joe sod said:


> It looks like the compete lockdown of the country in March and the total shuttering of businesses which is still continuing has not worked.



Not sure on what basis you say that.
The lockdown wasnt really about zero cases.
It was about ensuring the health service wasnt overwhelmed, the known vulnerable were protected and the infected numbers of those under 70s who unknowingly are vulnerable to the virus was kept low.

I think the specific circumstances of Kildare need to be looked at but right now the priority is ensuring the clusters there dont trigger community transmission.


----------



## Rosjohn (9 Aug 2020)

559 cases in Kildare in the last 9 days!
Cork with nearly 3 times the population only had around 15.


----------



## Rosjohn (9 Aug 2020)

Should have read 255 in Kikdare.


----------



## Sophrosyne (9 Aug 2020)

joe sod said:


> The massive cost of the lockdown surely must be given serious consideration now. It seemed to be justified when we got the transmission down to low levels, now that is looking dubious



These are the figures for the first two months in Ireland


*Week**Cases**Total**Hospitalized**ICU**Deaths**Total*Feb 29-Mar 618​18​?​?​0​0​Mar 7-1372​90​36​?​1​1​Mar 14-20611​683​133​?​2​3​Mar 21-271,510​2,121​380​68​19​22​Mar 28-Apr 32,763​4,273​704​137​101​120​Apr 4-116,158​8,921​856​155​219​320​Apr 12-188,593​14,751​811​148​352​571​Apr 19-259,961​18,554​736​123​707​1,059​

Restrictions were introduced 23 March.

What would the data have looked like had we not restricted movement?


----------



## Leo (10 Aug 2020)

joe sod said:


> The recent upsurge in the Midlands is due to very specific circumstances and the location of asylum centres in midlands towns due to their proximity to Dublin.



Can you explain what you mean there?


----------



## odyssey06 (10 Aug 2020)

This article in the Journal has a good overview of the restrictions and also which ones are 'advice' and which ones have legal penalties i.e. there's no legal penalty for someone stopped at a Garda checkpoint who opts to continue their journey.








						Explainer: How gardaí are policing the new regulations for Kildare, Laois and Offaly
					

As part of Operation Fanacht, garda checkpoints were in place in the three counties over the weekend.




					www.thejournal.ie


----------



## odyssey06 (11 Aug 2020)

_Not sure why it took so long, reactive rather than pro-active but..._

Weekly coronavirus testing for workers at meat processing plants and residents of direct provision centres is to begin, as health officials work to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Following a meeting of the Cabinet sub-committee on Covid-19 today, Micheál Martin said weekly testing will start first in Kildare, Laois and Offaly, where clusters of infection have been identified in recent weeks. 









						Taoiseach says weekly testing to begin at meat plants and direct provision centres
					

Martin said serial testing at nursing homes will also continue to monitor the situation.




					www.thejournal.ie


----------



## joe sod (15 Aug 2020)

Leo said:


> Can you explain what you mean there?


1.  asylum seekers in community accomodation living together , very high risk grouping
2.  meat factories with people working in close quarters and in very cold environment. famously very high risk environment 

Combine the two and what you got, a coronavirus laboratory and this all done in cahoots with all the state agencies as very few people were aware that asylum seekers were working in meat factories.


----------



## Leo (17 Aug 2020)

joe sod said:


> Combine the two and what you got,



Sorry, it was the 'due to their proximity to Dublin' piece I didn't get. I agree the two elements you highlight are indeed high-risk, and that was compounded in the recent outbreak by staff working in two processing plants car-sharing. 

Was it really a surprise that asylum seekers were working these jobs though? The work permit quota system with a floor of €22k pa makes non-nationals a target for these employers.


----------



## Susie2017 (20 Aug 2020)

Why does Laois continue to be under county lockdown? Does anyone know the actual daily tally of cases in Laois for the past number of weeks ? I can only find the figures lumped in with other countries on the new sites. If someone could send me a link to the Laois figures I would be grateful.


----------



## Sophrosyne (20 Aug 2020)

Susie2017 said:


> If someone could send me a link to the Laois figures I would be grateful.



That information is available from Ireland's COVID-19 Data Hub - here.

Scroll down to County Timeline of Confirmed Cases and select Laois.


----------



## odyssey06 (21 Aug 2020)

From RTE:
The Cabinet has agreed to extend the lockdown  in county Kildare while measures will be lifted in Laois and Offaly...
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has announced a package of measures to help Kildare businesses after the "decision to extend restrictions".


----------



## odyssey06 (31 Aug 2020)

It is understood an announcement will be made later today on lifting restrictions in County Kildare following a recommendation from the National Public Health Emergency Team. 









						Kildare Covid restrictions lifted with immediate effect
					

The Government has announced the lifting of specific Covid-19 restrictions in Co Kildare "with immediate effect".




					www.rte.ie


----------

