Call to open Leitrim pubs due to low Covid-19 transmission rates

Since August 2, Leitrim has not recorded an increase in Covid-19 cases.
Up to that date the county has recorded 85 cases of the virus, which is the lowest in the country.

Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín has called on the government to rethink strategy in pub closure, especially in Leitrim.

He stated “The government has already delivered restrictions on a county by county basis. There is a precedent to matching restrictions in counties to the prevalence of Covid. They have accepted that there is a logic to dealing with restrictions on a county basis.”
“Leitrim has had no reported cases of Covid in 20 days. Yet their pubs remain closed. Many other counties have had very low levels of Covid for the last number of weeks yet their pubs remained closed. This flies in the face of that logic.”
He concluded that is is imperative “if there is to be any future for pubs across the country, that the government step up and foot the bill for the stocks which will now have to be poured out by heart-broken, financially strained publicans.
He noted that many rural pubs may never be able to open again.

Overall Connacht counties are faring well with just 13 new cases recorded across Galway, Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim in the last fortnight.
The most up to date figures show Sligo with 157 cases, Longford with 296, Roscommon with 362, Donegal with 537 and Cavan with 892 cumulative cases since recording began.

62,179 tests have been completed in the past seven days with just a 1.2% positive rate. There are six people in ICU and there has been no deaths recorded nationwide for eight days. There has now been a total of 1,777 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.
The NPHET are keeping a close eye on a number of counties this week including Dublin, Limerick, Tipperary and Wexford, if cases continue to increase localised lockdowns may be enforced.

Also read: 53 new cases of  Covid-19 announced nationwide