TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has said that the government is moving cautiously on the reopening of society and that outdoor activities will be “the theme of the summer”.

Speaking on RTÉ’s The Week In Politics, Martin said that the virus is in a more manageable position and that there would be considerations for more reopening in May.

“April has been good, we’re ahead of targets. The strategy is working in terms of controlling the virus,” said Martin, saying the progress made would help give confidence for a wider reopening.

Among the considerations for reopening, Martin said that nonessential retail, hairdressing, more outdoor sports and religious services are all being examined.

However, Martin said that the government wanted to ensure that anything that does open, remains open in the long term.

“Anything we open now, we want to keep open. We want to end this stop, start, close… We’ve got to do this in a proper way.”

The Taoiseach said that the announcements next week will detail some further reopening beyond May, with the potential for the reopening of hotels and B&B’s, but that they will weigh it up with advice from medics.

“We will give an announcement next week in respect of May, some indications in respect of June as I have already in terms of hotels, B&B’s and guest houses, and we will take advice as well and we will weigh it up.”

The Taoiseach is expected to make the next set of Covid reopening announcements on Thursday evening, following meetings of the Cabinet sub-committee on Covid and the full Cabinet, and after receiving advice from NPHET.

Vaccines

When asked about whether or not it would be possible to hit current vaccine targets set for June, the Taoiseach said that while the HSE have the capacity to administer vaccines, it will depend on the supply of vaccines arriving into the country.

“We exceeded the target this week as of yesterday. 175,500 vaccines were administered which illustrates the capacity of the system to administer vaccines if the supplies come in.

“One of the challenges has been the frequent disruption of delivery schedules, from the companies, most notably AstraZeneca but indeed, in some respects, at a lower level with Moderna, and even J&J.”

While Martin said a million vaccines will not be administered throughout all of April, he said that both May and June will be “heavy vaccination months”, with a supply of over a million jabs arriving in May.

The supply coming in May, at the moment, will be well over a million. Likewise in June.

Martin said that there had been good progress on the vaccination of the medically vulnerable, saying that about 134,000 people within that cohort had been vaccinated.

On travel restrictions, Martin confirmed that the Chief Medical Officer had written to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly on travel restrictions to India.

While Donnelly will have to consult with Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney, Martin said that he expected a decision would be made early this week.

Officials from the government’s Expert Advisory Group on Travel met earlier this week to decide on the status of India, and whether or not it should be added to the hotel quarantine system currently in place.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ronan Glynn said on Monday that adding India to the mandatory hotel quarantine list was something that could be looked at.

It comes as India has set records on Covid-19 cases being reported, with thousands of deaths occurring daily due to oxygen shortages in hospitals across the country.