Ireland confident strict COVID-19 restrictions to be dropped in December

DUBLIN, Nov 12 (Reuters) - The Irish government is confident
that it will be able to drop some of the strictest COVID-19
restrictions in Europe on schedule in December following a sharp
fall in infection rates, deputy prime minister Leo Varadkar said
on Thursday.

"I think everyone is confident now that we will ease
restrictions in December," Varadkar told parliament.

Rules which have closed all bars, restaurants and
non-essential retail and banned non-essential travel more than 5
kilometers from home are due to lapse on Dec. 1, though
ministers have said less strict restrictions are likely to
remain.
(Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Toby Chopra)