The new road map for living alongside Covid-19 will be published this morning.
It will contain a system whereby different counties will have different restrictions based on the prevalence of the virus locally.
The new system will have five levels – with level one being the lightest and level five being the most restrictive and close to the full lock down we had in March.
Counties may be at different levels and the plan will outline the criteria for a county moving up a level which will be based on the cases per 100,000 along with other factors like the rate of community transmission, hospitalisation, ICU numbers and even the time of year.
Most counties will be put on level two for the moment, with Dublin likely to be level three with greater restrictions on home visits.
The aim of the plan is to keep schools, creches and businesses open in as many of the scenarios as possible – with the government hoping these rules will allow people to have a life while also saving lives.
Weddings and funerals will be treated as special cases distinct from other organised gatherings – while there’s also sections on transport and the elderly or medically vulnerable who’ve been asked to cocoon.
Spectator sport is expected to return and there will be changes to the rules around international travel.
