Member of NPHET says we won’t be having a normal Christmas this year

A member of the National Public Health Emergency Team says strict limits on Christmas get-togethers is needed to prevent a third wave of the virus.

Professor Philip Nolan told the Business Post that if Level 5 restrictions are eased in December there will be a surge of Covid-19 cases in the spring.

He says we could see 300 cases per day in the new year if we go back to the level of social contact we had in August and September.

Dr Nuala O’Connor, the Irish College of General Practitioners’ lead advisor on Covid-19, says Christmas will have to be different this year; ”if we have a normal Christmas in an enclosed. poorly ventilated area then that’s exactly where this virus loves to spread.”