Irish government to consider additional COVID-19 measures - health minister

The Irish government will hold an unscheduled meeting on Wednesday to decide whether additional measures are required to control the "exponential growth" of COVID-19 in the country, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said.

"We will look right across the spectrum... and see in light of the rising cases and the rise in hospitalisations what the appropriate thing to do is," Donnelly told RTE radio.

The government has closed all bars and restaurants and will ban all household visits from Jan. 1, but non-essential retail and schools remain open.

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