DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland will shut restaurants, pubs serving food and some shops from Christmas Eve, less than a month after they emerged from the previous lockdown after health officials warned the country had quickly spiralled into a third wave of COVID-19 infections.
Ireland has one of the lowest incidence rates of COVID-19 in Europe after moving early in October to temporarily shut shops, bars and restaurants. Unlike much of Europe, they have largely been open again during the busy December trading period.
However the five-day average of new cases has almost doubled in just four days, prompting the government to scrap provisional plans to keep hospitality open until closer to the New Year and move to a modified version of its highest level of restrctions until Jan. 12.
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Alison Williams)
