Update from Simon Harris' Office

Good morning all, I received this this morning. Nothing new I'm afraid. 

Thank you for your email to Minister Harris. I want to thank you for your patience and for adhering to the restrictions that are in place to slow the spread of COVID-19. These efforts are difficult and involve real sacrifice, but they are working.

The government published a Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business which sets out the plan to ease the COVID-19 restrictions and reopen Ireland’s economy and society in a phased manner. You can read it at gov.ie/roadmap. The Roadmap stared on 18 May, and sets out five stages for unlocking restrictions, at three-week intervals. It is a flexible framework based on an assessment of risk. As we ease restrictions, we will need to keep monitoring the situation.
The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) is monitoring progress of the disease and providing risk-based public health advice to the Government regarding the adjustment of social distancing measures and all other public health restrictions.

Public health has been clearly and transparently provided as part of the decision-making process to inform Government on the slow unwinding of the restrictions. It will be a risk-based approach, considering risk both from the perspective of protecting those most vulnerable to infection as well as protecting against causes, situations, circumstances, and behaviours that may lead to risk of spread of disease. The role of the NPHET in assessing the public health risk has been critical and will continue to guide Government while we are living with this Pandemic.