It could be a little while longer before you’re sitting inside your favourite restaurant or pub. 

A report in today’s Irish Times suggests that it is increasingly likely that NPHET will recommend extending the period of closure for indoor hospitality.

Indoor dining and drinks had been scheduled to resume on July 5th as per Ireland’s reopening strategy. However, the emergence of the Delta variant, which is believed to be even more transmissible than the UK variant that devastated Ireland during the winter months, is posing serious problems to those plans.

A decision will not be made on hospitality until July 1st or 2nd, with the the government yet to receive an advisory letter from NPHET.

The confusion has led the Restaurants Association of Ireland to seek a meeting the government, with spokesperson Adrian Cummins saying the industry “needs to know very clearly what percentage of the population needs to be fully vaccinated before hospitality can reopen fully.”

There were 304 new cases of Covid-19 confirmed in Ireland on Thursday, and while hospital admissions and ICU numbers remain low, there is worry that these statistics could quickly take a turn for the worse.

Speaking yesterday, however, Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said he expected Ireland to stick to schedule when it comes to non-essential foreign travel, which will resume on July 19th.

Header photo via Market Lane