After the country completed the emergency phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government agreed to lift most of the remaining public health restrictions.
What are the new changes?
Starting Monday, there are no legal requirements for wearing masks at retail stores, personal services, schools, etc.
Certain safeguards in schools and early learning and school-age childcare facilities, such as pod requirements, social distances, and staggered breaks, have also been lifted.
What’s left?
The mandatory requirement to wear a face cover has been lifted, but the government says it will continue to receive advice in public transport and medical settings.
Infection prevention and management measures remain, such as an early learning environment, school-age childcare, and in elementary and junior high schools, ventilation, hand hygiene measures, and advice to stay home if symptoms occur.
Antigen testing programs will also continue at these facilities.
But what if you still want to wear a mask?
The change removes the legal obligation to wear it, but does not mean that it cannot be worn as needed.
Public health professionals advise the general public to make their own decisions about using masks in retail stores, personal services, schools, and crowded crowds, especially if they are not well-ventilated facilities.
Will the school run as it did in the pre-pandemic era?
Mostly, with the exception of the infection precautions mentioned above regarding ventilation, hand hygiene, and staying at home if symptoms occur.
Guidance issued to schools by the Ministry of Education states that “generally, schools now need to resume normal school routines and normal teaching and learning activities.”
Staff and students no longer need to wear face covers, but they can if they want to.
Guidance has been added that schools need to keep masks available on demand, as they do now.
Will attending school be affected by these changes?
Wearing a face cover or mask for school transport is no longer required, but will continue to be advised.
All other hygiene-related measures, such as the provision of hand sanitizers, additional cleaning of services, and pre-allocated seats, will continue to be subject to further review.
How about the office?
After January 24th, employees are allowed to return to the office in stages.
Face masks are optional, eliminating the need to separate people or put them in pods.
However, employers must continue to support workers who want to continue using the government protocol Face Cover when returning to work.
Is everyone happy with these changes?
The teachers’ union has expressed concern and caution about the end of the mask wearing requirements in the classroom.
The Irish Teachers Union (TUI) said the move could be “premature” and the Irish Association of Secondary Teachers (ASTI) “continues to call attention.”
Denis Hynes, the organizer of the hospitality division of the Siptu trade union, said there was “warning” among hospitality workers. He added that many are concerned that it is too early for the incident to remain high, and that many workers will continue to wear face covers for their own safety.
If I’m positive, do I still need to quarantine myself?
Yes. If you are 13 years of age or older and have a positive Covid-19 test, you will need to self-quarantine for 7 days and wear a medical grade FFP2 mask for 10 days under the new rules.
Children aged 0-12 years who test positive for the virus also require 7 days of self-isolation, but a proper mask for 10 days is only needed for children aged 9-12.
Have your test requirements changed as well?
Starting Monday, most people will need to be inspected for the Covid-19 lift.
Only for people over 55 who are not boosted. People with high-risk medical conditions; People with weakened immunity; People who are pregnant; Also, we provide care and support to people who live in the same household or have weakened immunity. A person needs to undergo a PCR test.
In all other cases, testing is not required, but it should self-separate until 48 hours after the symptoms disappear.
What if I’m a close contact?
Health workers identified as household contacts will need to repeat the antigen test unless they have recovered from Covid-19 in the last three months.
All other asymptomatic intimate contacts do not need to test, self-separate, or limit their movements unless symptoms begin to appear.
