Ireland is now officially in a new lockdown until March 5.
And this time there will be more fines and stricter Garda enforcement of the lockdown.
Mandatory mask-wearing in banks, credit unions and other businesses is also a new move.
Government ministers have just jointly signed-off at Cabinet on the proposals brought by Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, this afternoon.
Level Five restrictions are to stay in place for at least six more weeks until Friday March 5th.
Extra measures to make this lockdown work will include introducing higher fines - and more of them - than the current €100 for breaking travel curfews.
Everybody must stay at home at all times and only leave the house in very exceptional circumstances, such as for small bouts of exercise and food shopping.
You cannot travel outside 5km from your home and you must work from home unless it is absolutely essential for you to be in the office or workplace.
All non-essential businesses and hospitality must now prepare for another huge chunk of the year with no customers.
The new mantra from the Government is ‘Don’t Travel’ and this is being bolstered in new restrictions for the coming six weeks.
Travel in and out of the country is the new no-no, with the thousands of sunseekers who had planned to sneak away facing fines if they travel to the airport.
And to show how serious they are, the Cabinet ministers have approved Garda operations to quiz people coming home from holidays, with fines and even prison proposed for offenders.
There will be a major crackdown on anyone coming in from abroad, with a negative PCR test compulsory for you to be allowed into the community.
If you’ve no test you could be fined up to €2,500 and will be locked-up in a quarantine hotel.
All visitors from South Africa and Brazil must undergo quarantine too and non-essential visas for these countries are being suspended.
All travellers arriving into the country will have to self-isolate and this will underpinned by binding legal regulations for the first time.
