DR TONY HOLOHAN has urged the Irish public not to make a mad dash to the shops and into restaurants now that lockdown has been lifted, for fear it could lead to another spike in Covid-19 cases.
Ireland's Chief Medical Officer has told people not to lose focus in suppressing the virus, and encouraged restraint in spite of the fact that shops and services have reopened for the first time in over a month.
The country entered Level Three restrictions at the stroke of midnight last night, and non-essential retail has been allowed to open again.
Restaurants and gastropubs will be allowed to open on Friday, though 'wet' pubs will remain shut.
Dr Holohan and his colleagues at the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) have said that Level Five restrictions have saved hundreds of lives and have staved off potentially thousands more cases of Covid-19 in the past few weeks.
He warned though that the situation could worsen quickly if the country took its foot off the gas in the fight against the virus, and insisted that as long as people continued to adhere to public health guidelines, further spikes of coronavirus were not an "inevitability."
Dr Holohan discouraged people from gatherings on crowded streets and in shops now that the retail sector has reopened, and urged people to remember to wear face coverings in busy environments.
See More: Covid-19, Dr Tony Holohan, NPHET
