It’s too early to reduce social distancing: Varadkar

THE Irish Republic has not suppressed the spread of Covid-19 enough to reduce social distancing guidelines from two metres to one metre, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.

Mr Varadkar (right) has defended the two-metre social distance guideline but said it may be changed if the spread of the virus reduces in the weeks ahead.

“Before we can relax that rule and maybe reduce it to one metre, which I know a lot of people would like, we just need to see the virus come down a bit more,” he added.

“We’re not at that point yet, but we will get there.”

He said while he would like to accelerate his government’s roadmap for reopening the country, a judgment call will not be made until next week, when there will be more evidence about how the Republic has fared during the first phase of the easing of restrictions.

Ahead of the bank holiday weekend, Mr Varadkar said people should enjoy the sun and meet family and friends outdoors in groups of four.

Photos emerged on social media of a shirtless Mr Varadkar and his partner picnicking with friends in Dublin’s Phoenix Park last Sunday. Asked if he would go out in the sun this weekend, he said: “I don’t want to give my press officer a heart attack or anything.

“Unfortunately, there are camera phones anywhere there are people these days, but that’s the way it is. You have to live your life, and if you’re afraid of photographs, you would never go out.”

Earlier, a health expert said people would have to limit their contact with others for the foreseeable future, despite the pandemic easing.

Professor Philip Nolan, chair of the National Public Health Emergency Team’s Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said all the main indicators of the virus’s prevalence were either “stable or declining”.

The coronavirus death toll in the Republic rose to 1,639 yesterday after a further nine deaths were announced.

Forty-six new confirmed cases of the disease were also announced, taking Ireland’s total to 24,841.