Chief Medical Officer Ronan Glynn suggests that the newly earmarked date of August 10 could be pushed back again.

Following the government’s decision this week to roll back the easing of restrictions chief medical officer Ronan Glynn has hinted that it may be a number of months before nightclubs can reopen safely again.

“It’s very difficult to see a nightclub open in the context of where we’re at with this disease in Ireland and internationally,” Ronan Glynn said.

It’s hard from a public health perspective to see nightclubs open anytime soon, says Dr Ronan Glynn. | Read more: https://t.co/yIuU1bPe5k pic.twitter.com/qqj2RyPpjp

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) July 16, 2020

Pubs that do not serve a ‘substantial meal’ and nightclubs were due to open their doors on Monday (13 July). However, the date was pushed back due to fears over rising numbers of cases and currently, the new provisional date for pubs and clubs to open is August 10.

It is subject to change and is informed by “the experiences we’ve seen internationally in recent weeks around clusters and increases in cases in regions associated with reopening of venues like nightclubs” according to Glynn.

When the Chief Medical Officer was asked whether it would take a vaccine to result in nightclubs opening again he said “I don’t want to say that in an absolute sense but certainly it’s hard from a public health perspective to see nightclubs open anytime soon, given where we need to have our priorities which is on our education system, our healthcare and protecting the most vulnerable.”

Photo: Wigwam