Coronavirus Q&A: Can I have a drink in my friend’s garden from Monday?

The Government has given the go-ahead for the first stage of lifting Covid-19 restrictions from Monday, May 18th.

Under this initial phase of reopening the country, construction and other outdoor work will be permitted, some retail outlets such as hardware – but not homeware – shops will be allowed to open and groups of four people will be allowed to meet outdoors, once they observe social distancing.

On Saturday the director of the national virus reference laboratory Dr Cillian de Gascun gave additional information about how the easing would operate. He also said people should still try and avoid visiting friends and family under phase one.

So what is allowed from Monday?

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Can I pop over to my friend’s garden for a drink?

According to official guidelines, yes, you can as long as no more than four people gather together.

However, Dr de Gascun warned that meeting up in a back garden could result in visitors using bathroom or kitchen facilities which could lead to a further spread of the virus.

“It’s just adding additional risk,” he told RTÉ’s Saturday with Cormac Ó hEadra programme. “If you’re handing me a beer that’s fine, it can go straight into the bin or you can leave it on the wall… but if you’re giving me utensils or delph from your house, I’m seeding the virus onto it.”

How long can I hang out with friends and do we have to meet outdoors?

The advice is not to spend longer than 15 minutes in close contact with people and to always leave two metres distance between once another.

However, Dr de Gascun acknowledged that people would probably spend longer together so just to be careful to stay away from one another. Any meetings should take place outdoors unless you have a very large room/hall which enables social distancing.

Can I visit one friend in the morning and another in the evening?

Dr de Gascun advised people not to meet more than one social group in a day and to restrict interactions to a small number of friends and family for at least the next three weeks.

When will we know whether lifting the restrictions has impacted on the spread of the virus?

It will take between 5-7 days before the impact becomes clear, said Dr De Gascun. “It’s going to be week two by the time we see what effect lifting restrictions has had. That’s why we wanted a three week period so we can analyse the first two weeks.”

“The only way we can prevent people dying is by quenching virus activity in the community. So the community really is where everything starts and that’s where we want people to stay at home and minimise their interactions because any increase in cases in the community will have a knock on effect to hospitalization.”

Dr de Gascun said it was “likely” there would be an increase in cases following the lifting of restrictions due to people’s increased movement and social interactions.

Why is the wearing of masks on public transport and in supermarkets only being advised and not compulsory?

Dr de Gascun said the Government was reluctant to make mask wearing mandatory as certain people may have problems wearing face coverings because of breathing difficulties or allergies. Others may need to see people’s mouths for lip reading, he added.

Dr Holohan warned on Friday that “we cannot regard face coverings as some sort of magic shield . . . It’s a supplement to the other measures we are recommending.”

“This is an additional hygiene measure, it’s not a magic bullet for this disease, and that has to be understood.”

However, the National Transport Authority has urged people to wear masks when using public transport.

What ever happened to the contact tracing app the Government was talking about a few weeks ago?

When asked about this on Saturday, Dr de Gascun initially said he understood that plans for the app had “drifted” before correcting himself and saying he wasn’t involved in its development but he believed it would be ready but the end of May.