Ireland will ease its lockdown restrictions over the course of several months, once it has been deemed safe to do so, in an effort to prevent a resurgence of coronavirus, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Thursday.
The comments from Mr. Varadkar, who has re-registered himself as a doctor to help his country fight coronavirus, came just one day after World Health Organization officials urged countries to implement the moves in two-week phases to evaluate any changes before further lowering restrictions.
“I don’t yet know if we’ll be able to relax restrictions on May 5, but I do know that if we can at all, it is going to be gradual and happen over a number of months,” Mr. Varadkar said during a parliamentary session.
He pointed to current efforts in Asia to lift restrictions that have prompted warnings from health officials that a resurgence of cases will come if measures are eased prematurely.
“As we know from Asia, they may even need to be reimposed again as only a scientific breakthrough, a vaccine or an effective antiviral medicine, will truly allow life to go back to being as it was,” Mr. Varadkar said.
Ireland has reported 12,547 confirmed cases of coronavirus, 444 deaths, and 77 recoveries, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. Ireland has a population of 4.9 million.
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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