The decision emerged from yesterday's meeting of public health officials and comes as an additional 211 cases of Covid-19 were recorded in the Republic today, with more than half of these cases located in Dublin.
The number of infections among older people has almost doubled in recent weeks, according to the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), with 89 people aged 75 years and over contracting the disease in the past fortnight.
CEO of Nursing Homes Ireland, Tadhg Daly, said the new restrictions will be in place for three weeks: “We have received communication today from the Department of Health that the National Public Health Emergency Team at its meeting yesterday agreed to visitor restrictions again in Dublin for a period of three weeks.
The restriction will be to one nominated visitor per resident for the period of three weeks commencing from Sunday September 13th.
“The detail is that the restriction will be to one nominated visitor per resident for the period of three weeks commencing from Sunday September 13th.”
The decision for Dublin’s nursing homes comes as the region is being closely monitored by public health officials amid growing concern about community transmission of the virus.
Dr Colm Henry, a member of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), has said there is no appetite to recommend a localised lockdown in Dublin and that other methods to reverse the upwards trend of the virus will be looked at first, such as reducing interactions between households.
The cabinet sub-committee on Covid-19 met yesterday to discuss potential further restrictions for both Dublin and Limerick, with it likely that people living in the regions will be asked to reduce the number of visitors they have to their home.
Pubs in the capital may also not be allowed to reopen alongside the rest of licensed premises around the country on September 21st.
