The Government has released an updated list of essential retail outlets, as part of tighter Covid-19 restrictions.
The announcement comes after An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, confirmed that everyone should remain at home except in specific circumstances.
A range of new measures came into effect at midnight on Friday (March 27th) and will remain in place until Easter Sunday (Sunday, April 12th) when they will be “subject to review”.
List of essential retail services:
- Retail sale of essential items for the health and welfare of animals, including animal feed and medicines, animal food, pet food and animal supplies including bedding;
- Retail and wholesale sale of food, beverages and newspapers in non-specialised and specialised stores;
- Retail sale of household consumer products necessary to maintain the safety and sanitation of residences and businesses;
- Pharmacies/chemists and retailers providing pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical or dispensing services;
- Retail sale of selling medical and orthopaedic goods in specialised stores;
- Fuel stations and heating fuel providers;
- Laundries and drycleaners;
- Banks, post offices and Credit Unions;
- Retail sale of safety supply stores (work clothes, Personal Protective Equipment, for example).
- Essential retail outlets must implement physical distancing measures as outlined by the National Public Health Emergency Team:
- Ensure adequate distancing between customers and shop assistants in line with public health guidelines;
- Only let people into the store in small groups and ensure spaces are not crowed;
- Manage queue control inside and outside the door to maintain necessary physical distance;
- Essential retail outlets are encouraged to provide online services where that is possible and appropriate to “minimise footfall”
Emergency call-out or delivery service
A list of retailers, who can offer an emergency call-out or delivery service and can continue to operate on that basis only, had been released:
- Opticians/optometrists;
- Retailers involved in the repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles and bicycle repair and related facilities (tyre sales and repairs for example);
- Hardware stores, builder’s merchants and stores that provide hardware products necessary for home and business maintenance, sanitation and farm equipment, supplies and tools essential for gardening/farming/agriculture;
- Retail sale of office products and services for individuals working from home and for businesses;
- Retailers providing electrical, IT and phone sales, repair and maintenance services for home.
