James Cox
Health officials have confirmed 288 new cases of Covid-19 in the Republic of Ireland.
There are 49 patients in hospital with the virus, down 13 on last Sunday.
Fifteen people are in ICU, down seven over the same period.
Meanwhile, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said young people who are not fully vaccinated can travel abroad this summer, despite the chief medical officer’s advice to the contrary.
People under the age of 30 are unlikely to have both vaccine doses until September at the earliest and the chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan has advised people not to travel if they are not fully vaccinated.
Digital travel cert
Mr Varadkar said it would be “unfair” to ask them not to travel, when the EU’s digital travel cert, set to be introduced on July 19th, allows for travel for people who take PCR tests or who have previously had Covid.
He added: “The advice from the chief medical officer is very clear.
“He’s saying that people who aren’t fully vaccinated shouldn’t travel, people who are fully vaccinated can.
Because if you’re fully vaccinated, it’s very unlikely you will pick up the virus, it’s very unlikely you’ll bring it back to Ireland.
“And if I was the CMO, that’s the advice that I would give.
“Because we are the Government, we have to take wider considerations into account, and that’s why the Government advice, the law we’re putting in place is actually different than the CMO’s advice.
“We are saying that people who aren’t fully vaccinated, including all those young people can travel abroad, but they will need to get a PCR test before they return and that is the protection that we’re looking for.”
