"If you do need to go out or wish to go out with your children, dining outdoors is still possible.”
If you are vaccinated and were planning on taking advantage of indoor dining when it reopens soon – you might have to make sure you have a babysitter booked.
According to Dr Tony Holohan, parents should not bring their children into indoor dining when new rules come into force allowing them to eat inside. Later this month, under 18s will be permitted to dine indoors at a café, pub or restaurant, provided they are accompanied by a fully vaccinated adult or one who has recovered from Covid-19.
However, the country’s chief medical officer advised last night that the “responsible” public health advice was that it was safer for unvaccinated children to avoid indoor activities such as dining.
“Even though certain things are possible, children won’t be vaccinated, there is no plan at this point in time to vaccinate children," Holohan said at
a briefing last night.
“For now, to parents of young children – it’s safer not to bring your children into indoor dining and other facilities, even though these kinds of things might be possible. I mean, that would be the responsible public health advice.
If you do need to go out or wish to go out with your children, dining outdoors is still possible.”
He added: “You don’t have to go indoors. We know that Delta transmission among children can happen.”
Unvaccinated to remain vigilant
Holohan also issued a warning to all those waiting for Covid-19 vaccination in Ireland, urging them to remain vigilant as reported cases of the virus has continued to grow over the past few days.
“For people who are not vaccinated, we can see a significant change in the path to infection, and we’ve been saying for some time that this infection represents a risk to them,” the country's chief medical officer said.
“You must be very cautious and at the very minimum try to differentiate for yourself between those activities that we would regard as high-risk activities. Things that are indoor, where there’s poor ventilation, where there’s crowding and things like that, to recognise those features."
