Delta variant surges as Irish government prepares to cut workers’ benefits
Last week as the Delta variant of Covid continued to spread internationally, Ireland's Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and Green Party coalition reluctantly postponed lifting the final phase of public health restrictions, scheduled for July 5, which would have seen the reopening of indoor restaurants and pubs.
The token delay in no way confronts the growing threat posed by the Delta variant, which now accounts for over 50 percent of daily infections in Ireland.
Micheál Martin (credit: Wikimedia Commons)
The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), the overall medical professional body advising the government, warned last week of 'a peak of deaths in August' with projections showing the variant infecting 'thousands of people per day'. Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheál Martin who leads Ireland's coalition government told the Dáil (parliament), 'I spoke... with Nicola Sturgeon First Minister of Scotland and she used a very telling phrase. She said Delta will rip through an unvaccinated population. All their eggs are in the vaccination basket'.