Ireland under partial lockdown due to rising COVID-19 cases

The new rules will last for three weeks and could be extended if they fail to curb the spread of the virus in the country, Xinhua reports.

One of the measures, which is part of what the government calls a Level-3 response, prohibits people from leaving their own county with the exception of those who must travel for work and other essential purposes.

Under the Level-3 response, non-essential international travels are banned. All indoor museums, galleries, cinemas and other cultural attractions in the country are ordered to be closed and libraries are available only for e-services.

Restaurants, cafes, bars and pubs can only provide outdoor service to a maximum of 15 people in addition to take-away and delivery services.

In Dublin, wet pubs (pubs not serving food), having been shut down since the mid-March, shall remain closed.

People are asked to work from home unless absolutely necessary and public transport is available only for essential workers.

Matches or other sporting events are banned with very few exceptions. No organized indoor gatherings should take place and organized outdoor gatherings are permitted up to a maximum of 15 people.

No social or family gatherings should take place other than weddings and funerals, with the number of people attending such events each capped at 25.

Visitors to private homes, including gardens, should be limited to a maximum number of six from one other household.

However, schools, childcare services, higher education institutions, all retail shops and shopping centers, barbershops, beauty salons and other services in the country will remain open.

Last month, the Irish government introduced a new five-level risk rating system to cope with the pandemic in the country, with Level 1 being the lowest and having the least amount of restrictive measures in place and Level 5 being the highest and having the most restrictions in place.

Ireland has witnessed a resurgence of COVID-19 cases over the last couple of months. As of Tuesday, Ireland registered a total of 38,973 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 1,811 fatalities, according to the Department of Health.