We have been here before when the slide happened around Halloween last year, even as the country was in lockdown. The warning signs are also coming from Europe, where several countries are seeing a new wave of infection sweeping in – forcing tough new restrictions. After spending all of 2021 in lockdown so far, why do we find ourselves in this precarious situation again? The five-day moving average is for 550 cases a day now compared with 480 cases a day on March 10. Last week’s cases per week were down only 3pc on the previous week’s, compared with 40pc weekly decline earlier this year.

Source: Irish Independent March 17, 2021 02:35 UTC