A change in Covid rules for some Irish pubs may be on the way after the Dail bar became the first to reintroduce a requirement for face masks.
The new measures were announced on Friday amid growing concerns over the surge in cases since the bank holiday weekend.
Other pubs across the country may now follow suit as experts have advised that people should continue to wear face masks in public settings despite there being no legal mandate to do so.
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The Dail bar said in a letter to TDs and Senators, seen by the Irish Mirror, that the new rules would remain in place until Easter to "protect each other from the highly transmissible airborne variant".
Other measures such as visitor numbers have also been reintroduced while Leinster House itself has asked that all people resume wearing masks indoors.
The news comes as consumer spending in pubs has seen a huge increase since all restrictions were lifted and venues returned to full capacity.
During the month of February, consumer spending rose by a whopping 49 per cent, with an average spend of 1.6 million a day.
People returned to pubs for St Patrick's day in their droves as they enjoyed the once-off double bank holiday weekend and celebrated the festival for the first time in two years at public events.
However, the spike in Covid cases has led many health officials to call for a reintroduction of face masks as the health system comes under increasing pressure.
Almost 20,000 new cases were confirmed on Friday as the new BA.2 variant drives a surge in infections.
Meanwhile, more than 1,400 people are being treated for the disease in hospital, of which over 50 are in ICU.
Trinity College immunologist Prof Luke O'Neill has backed other officials as he urged people to continue wearing masks in crowded settings .
He said: "It's still a seasonal virus. It spreads in winter and early spring. It's still out there, and masks give protection. Even though BA.2 is more transmissible, if you do wear a mask and you do spread it, the dose will be lower."
Although Prof O'Neill said normality is on the horizon, he warned that a new variant of Covid could still emerge.
He said: "There may be another variant that can cause more severe disease, but the good news is we can see it coming, and the booster and the fourth shot will protect against severe disease with any variant.
"We shouldn't be that fearful of it, but we should be aware of it and prepare for it."
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